Hoffmann's story began on Christmas Eve at the Stahlbaum house. Marie Stahlbaum, seven years old, and her brother Fritz, eight, sat outside the parlor speculating about what kind of present their godfather Drosselmeier, who was a clockmaker and inventor, had made for them. They were at last allowed into the parlor, where they received many splendid gifts, including Drosselmeier's, which turned out to be a clockwork castle with mechanical people moving about inside it. However, as the mechanical people could only do the same thing over and over without variation, the children quickly tired of it. At that point, Marie noticed a Nutcracker doll, and asked whom he belonged to. Her father told her that he belonged to all of them, but that since she is so fond of him she will be his special care