A silver singing bird box, probably Karl Griesbaum, Berlin, late 19th century

Sharon & Christian Bailly, Oiseuax de Bonheur, Tabatieres et Automates, Antiquorum, 2001, p. 360.

Founded in Triberg in the Black Forest in 1905, the firm of Karl Griesbaum exclusively specialised in singing bird boxes in the early 20th century. In the preceding years, however, Mathias Griesbaum, father of Karl, ran a workshop for micro-mechanics in the basement of his home in the Black Forest, an area known for its tradition in making cuckoo clocks. It was a travelling salesman, Mr. Rosenau from Frankfurt, who first suggested the production of singing bird boxes to Griesbaum, bringing an example with him from Frankfurt and asking Mathias Griesbaum to copy it. The firm then initially collaborated with case makers in Pforzheim, until all the steps of the manufacture were done in-house for these singing bird boxes in Swiss-German tradition for which the firm was to become most famous.