Most people think the clocks are "Swiss" but they are from Germany. The cuckoo clock case style was meant to mimic the typical railway houses that stood at each German railway stop. The "Railway House" cuckoo clock was made to look like typical Black Forest structure with its pointed roof and square shape. The cuckoo bird would be hidden behind a trap door at the top, only to peek out at the top of the hour.
There are 1 day clocks and 8 day clocks. That means that it takes one day or eight days for the weight to fall from the bottom of the clock to the floor and then the weight would have to be pulled back to the top again to run the clock. A basic cuckoo clock will have two weights and will just have a cuckoo bird that comes out. The cuckoo clock with three weights will play a musical tune in addition to the cuckoo and could have dancing people and other things going on.
Cuckoo clocks come in all shapes and sizes and can be basic or very elaborate. The antique ones will have brass movements in them but the new ones could be run by battery.
