Celebrating the Dachshund Bobblehead

Today’s interactive Doodle celebrates the dachshund bobblehead, an iconic weiner dog doll with a wobbly, spring-attached head that originated in Germany as a friendly vehicle accessory. The first verifiable reference to the breed traces back to this date in 1723, with its inclusion in Johann Friedrich von Flemming’s book “Der vollkommene teutsche Jäger” (“The Complete German Hunter”).  

The dachshund has long been recognized as a popular German symbol. That special status was only strengthened in the 1970s with the manufacture of the first daschund bobbleheads, known affectionately in German as the “Wackeldackel”–or “wobbling dachshund” in English. The agreeable canines could soon be found perched on the rear dash of traditional German notchback cars, nodding along to every twist and bump in the road.

After the Wackeldackel was featured in a late-’90s German advertisement, the bobblehead came howling back to prominence with over 500,000 sold in just eight months. 

Keep an eye out for these four-legged passengers on the road! You never know when you might spot a hot dog in the back of a hot rod. ;)

Early concepts and drafts of the Doodle below

Once upon a time the bobblehead Doodle was a clicker game.

But we ended up focusing on one dachshund that one originally looked like this:

Some initial, alternate designs!

All the background mountains, trees and sky were recreated in vector. This both reduces file size and gives the Doodle a crisp look.

The wackeldackel went through a complete redesign. We even imbued it with the ability to feel emotions!

Finally, we applied Hooke’s Law to the bobblehead’s… well bobblehead. The math looks a little something like this: 

F = -kx

Thanks Robert Hooke!

Q&A with lead engineer David Lu

Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally? 

A: As an engineer, what interested me most was the physics involved in the bobblehead. Not only is the wackeldackel a celebration of an iconic German dog breed, it is also an example of German tinkery. I spent hours debating the implementation of the bobble; whether it should be a spring, a pendulum, or a simple sine wave. It was worth it to relearn Grade 10 physics just for this Doodle.

Q: What were your first thoughts when you heard about the project?

A: What the heck is a wackeldackel? I learned some German that day.

Q: Did you draw inspiration from anything in particular for this Doodle?

A: Because this Doodle celebrates a German icon, my inspiration was the entirety of German culture. I tried to squeeze in as many German things as possible in the background, such as the Autobahn and the Bavarian Alps.

Q: What do you hope people take away from your Doodle?

A: I want all non-German speakers to appreciate the word wackeldackel, which perfectly encapsulates what this Doodle is about. It's also way more descriptive than "German Wiener dog Bobblehead".

TEAM BOBBLEHEAD

Artist | David Lu

Engineer | David Lu

Producer | Colin Duffy

UX Designer | David Lu

Marketing | Perla Campos

Business Affairs Lead & Partnerships | Madeline Belliveau

Doodle Team Leads | Jessica Yu, Brian Kaas