The traditional German wooden decoration with candles that spins like a carousel is a Christmas pyramid.
Christmas pyramids originated in the Ore Mountain region of Germany. They are usually tiered wooden structures with carved figures, candle holders, a central shaft, and a rotor or propeller at the top. Heat rising from the candles turns the rotor, which makes the carousel-like levels revolve.
Many pyramids show the Nativity, with angels, shepherds, or the Christ child, while others depict miners, forests, village life, or other Ore Mountain scenes. Their shape is called pyramidal, but the object functions mechanically as a multi-level carousel.
The decoration is sometimes confused with a smoker, another German wooden ornament that releases scented smoke, or a nutcracker, which is a carved figure. An Advent wreath has candles but does not spin. Christmas pyramids became more affordable and widespread after cheaper lighting fuels appeared in the nineteenth century.