Well...it's :something"...but what I don't know!
Is it glass? Is the scene applied? Is the scene made of glass? Does the inside show where the pattern is?

Thanks for writing. The inside is plain and smooth. The material it's made from is shiny and smooth. Not sure how to tell what it is. I just noticed what might be seams on it. Maybe plastic? Will add more photos. Thanks

It looks like cast resin to me. Cast with decoration, then painted. I have noticed that most vessels offered in shops catering to the tourist trade carry resin items now. Even if it is 15 years old, it still might be resin. You can see if you can scratch off a bit on the bottom. If you can, it is not glass.

Hi! Well I've had it for 15 years; the woman that gave it to me was born in Germany and was in her 80s. Could the picture be painted on? If you look at the photos you can see that the images on the "vase" are raised, not flat like paint. Thanks for the imput!

OH doh, I get what you're saying cast into that shape with the raised images and then painted. Yes, that's likely what it is. Thanks.

Cast glass makes sense to me; resin does not, given the likely age of the item. We Germans have a long history of Kitsch (heck it's our word) (see cuckoo clocks!) and have taken it to high art :-) The thing that makes them authentic cultural artifacts is that there are places that really look just like that image!

I think it's quite charming. Interesting that it is stamped "Germany." Later items often specified "West Germany" and more recently, don't have to be marked at all for sale in Germany and might well be made in China.

Karin L

Very classic shape:
http://www.markt.de/nordrhein-westfalen/vasen+toepfe/vase+schwarzwald/recordId,1c6da68c/resultsPerPage,50/expose.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: german ebay item

Not glass.......resin. Resin has been around for items like this that I know for sure since 1983....and most likely before.
The OP would recognize glass if she tapped it.
Likely stamped Germany after the fact of manufacture.