These 'Schnuerkasperl' are either traditional figures or modern, newly invented figures and they get exclusively made by hand and by the team at their place of origin.  Part of the reason is the continuation of the subversive, country-dweller banter which is behind many a traditional Schnuerkasperl. An example is the boxing champion who here is shown as a mouse who despite a black eye swings his boxing gloves or the huntsman who has grown  large horns and so has himself turned into a stag.

All the parts of a Schnuerkasperl are cut from the trunk of a specifis spruce into thin splints and shaped exclusively with carving knives.  The brittle wood structure is characteristic for this splintering process.
The parts of the body are attached through the aid of tiny wooden pegs. This means that they are rotatable through their linchpin, and are attached to each other with string. If this string is pulled, which is tied underneath to the other strings, all the arms and legs move.  Simple carving of heads and all the other important detail through the old technique of chip carving bring out the personal traits of each figure.  Another special distinguishing mark is the the typical fine colouring of the Oberammergau.  At the so-called 'Fassmalerei' which is the traditional method of painting church figures secretly developments colour and lacquer combinations are applied.  To diferentiate real Schnuerkasperl from Oberammergau they are given a seal which garantues the handicraft and origin as local.