HOW BLACKFOREST GERMAN CUCKOO CLOCKS ARE MADE
THE CUCKOO CLOCK STORY
A cuckoo clock is a typically pendulum-regulated clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo’s call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and open/close their beaks while leaning forward, whereas in others, only the bird’s body leans forward. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has been in use since the middle of the 18th century and has remained almost without variation until the present.
The design of a cuckoo clock is made of Black forest Pine Wood in the “traditional style” or “chalet” to hang on a wall. In the “traditional style” the wooden case is decorated with carved leaves and animals. They have an automation of the bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking.

“Verein die Schwarzwalduhr” Vds Certification from the Black Forest Clock association is awarded to the clocks made entirely of wood (except the movements), with all essential parts produced in the Black Forest and that meet quality controls set by the association.
Mechanical Cuckoo Clock
There are two kinds of movements: one-day and eight-day clockworks. Some have musical devices, and play a tune on a Swiss music box after striking the hours and half-hours. Musical cuckoo clocks frequently have other automation which moves when the music box plays. The weights are made of cast iron in a pine cone shape and the “cuc-koo” sound is created by two tiny bellows (pipes) in the clock, the clock’s movement activates the bellows to send a puff of air into each pipe alternately when the timekeeper strikes.

