Birthday Memories of Olly Wendt

ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY MEMORIES OF OLLY WENDT

This year we remember Olly Wendt, neé Sommer with great affection. An extraordinary woman and talented designer, whose unmistakable signature is still shaping the collection, long after her death.

Born on May 27, 1896 in Riga, now the capital of Latvia, she found her way to Grünhainichen as a young woman in 1920. This was originally intended to be a stepping stone in her artistic career, but she ended up staying there all her life. Here she discovered not only a love of designing figurines, she also found the man of her life. On February 19, 1930 she married Johannes Wendt, the brother of Grete Wendt, the founder of the company. In that same year their twins Hans and Sigrid were born.

She experienced great happiness but also huge suffering in her life, which is documented in a special exhibition “Talent – Fate – A life’s work”. It can be seen at Wendt & Kühn World in Grünhainichen until the beginning of 2022. Numerous figurines, sketches, photographs, previously unseen documents and artefacts paint a portrait of the woman who worked side by side with company founder Grete Wendt. For a glimpse behind the scenes of the exhibition, visit wendt-kuehn.com/experience/olly-wendt-her-life-and-work. In 1980, the then 84-year-old wrote how much she loved her work: “I am grateful and happy that I can still do it. After all, work is a blessing.” On the morning of April 28, 1983 she went into the painting department for the last time, the place on which she had left her creative imprint for more than 60 years.

On June 13, 1991 Olly closed her eyes forever. But not without leaving memories of a profound, sensitive and warm-hearted person, a loving wife, mother and “grandma”, and also a great designer.

Manufactory is a term we are hearing more often. But what exactly does the word mean? It comes originally from Latin, and is composed of the words manus – hand and facere – to build, do, make or produce. A manufactory is a production facility in which crafts people in different fields work together to produce an end product. Machinery is rarely used and then in more of a supporting role. The results are exclusive, premium-quality products.

The history of manufacturing in Europe saw medieval craftsmen replaced by manufactories and these in turn were largely superseded by factories as industrialisation progressed. Today there are very few companies in the world that, like Wendt & Kühn, still meet the traditional definition of a manufactory.

GRÜNHAINICHEN LEXICON M IS FOR MANUFACTORY