Hundreds of nativity scenes on display at Washington bank

GUTTENBERG, Iowa (KCRG) - A unique collection of 2,539 nativity scenes is on display right now at the Hills Bank in Washington.

It took six weeks to set up the thousands of scenes. All of the scenes are owned by Michael Zahs, who started his collection in the 1950s. The displays come from more than 100 different countries, the majority of them handcrafted.

“I like to have people come and look at the details. You can look at the exhibit for the scripture part of it, you can look at it for the materials, the artwork. Much of these are handmade, some of them are very historical,” Zahs said.

This collection could break a world record, and Zahs is currently working on submitting it to Guinness for certification in its infamous Book of World Records.

The display continues until the end of January 2023.