2007 Edition
ANGELIC NEWS FROM THE WENDT & KÃœHN WORKSHOPS
Free Customer Magazine
Possibly the purest declaration of love. In a dazzling reissue, Cupid rises to distinction as our Gold Edition No 1.
2007 Edition | Page 2
Dear eleven dot post readers Adorable little cherubs, round and pudgy in their white frocks, their spruce-green wings sporting eleven fine white dots, these are the angels cherished the world over as the trademarks of the famous German woodcrafters Wendt & Kühn. We are very pleased that you now hold the first international edition of our company magazine in your hands, a labor of love in response to the great demand for the beloved creations we manufacture. Our Angels and Blossom Kinder have been bringing joy to people and brightening rooms ever since 1915. Our company was founded by two young women who to this day still in spirit personify our company and all that we create: Grete and Olly Wendt. On February 24, 2007, Grete Wendt, the “true soul” of our company for decades, would have been 120 years old. Wendt & Kühn has continued to draw on her ideas and her wealth of creativity for more than 90 years; in all this time, her figures have never ceased to find a special place in people’s hearts, they continue to make friends around the world even today. Part of this new publication is dedicated to providing you with a bit of background on this most unusual woman, one we at Wendt & Kühn remember with great fondness and endearment. I myself clearly remember Aunt Grete. As a child, I loved to visit her and play with the many “treasures” in her home. Whenever I visited, Aunt Grete always had a smile on her face. Which is something I also often hear from our workshop employees who were here back then and knew her personally. A good-hearted woman who ran the company with charm and geniality and who lent the famous Wendt & Kühn figures their utterly special character. The apartment which Aunt Grete called home, where I spent many joyful hours of play as a child, is today my office. I can still see exactly what it looked like 30 years ago. In that sense, the spirit of Aunt Grete is also still with me every single day, not infrequently helping me wrestle with difficult decisions. One decision which was not difficult in the least, but in fact a genuine “matter of the heart,” was welcoming our romantic Cupids from the 1920s back into our current collection. Armed with bow and golden arrows, they not only set the hearts of lovestruck couples aflutter, but those of ardent collectors as well. And because genuine treasures are worth their weight in gold, we added something truly special: in the exclusive Gold Edition, our Cupids shoot their arrows from a 24-carat gold-plated bow. We’ve got many other treats for you inside, including figures and products which have found their way back into production from our voluminous archives. Our articles include a glimpse into the life of expert gluer Annette Heim and how the many minute individual parts making up our Bavarian Girl, stove banks and other classics come together in our workshops. We also give you the specifics on a change just made in our music boxes, now featuring the much fuller sound of 36-tone music mechanisms from our Swiss supplier. On that note, we hope that you, too, will let the sounds of summer ring forth from your heart, accompanied by the spirited, playful figures from Wendt & Kühn.
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Contents
Creator of the Angels Page 4 Commemorating the 120th birthday of founder Grete Wendt, the formative mastermind behind our company Cupid to herald in our Gold Edition No 1 and more heavenly additions A dazzling reissue sets our collection aglow Springtime blossoming Colorful new creations
Tobias Wendt
Page 8
Melodic mechanisms Swiss music works make our music boxes sing proud
Page 11
How angels get their wings Gentle hands ensure a beautiful hold to last a lifetime
Page 12
Open House at Wendt & Kühn Page 14 Kaleidoscope
Page 6
Page 15
Imprint Publisher: Wendt & Kühn KG, Grünhainichen Design: brennerdesign, Zschopau Content: Dr. Sylva-Michèle Sternkopf, Flöha Translation: Sternkopf Communications, Flöha Photography: S+M Rümmler, Flöha; Wendt & Kühn KG photo archives, private Wendt family archives, Reuge (page 9) Printing: E. Gutermuth printers, Grünhainichen Wendt & Kühn KG Chemnitzer Straße 40, D-09579 Grünhainichen Telephone: +49 37 294/86 286, Telefax: +49 37294/86129 www.wendt-kuehn.de
2007 Edition | Page 4
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Commemorating the 120th birthday On February 24, 2007, Grete Wendt, founder and kind-hearted soul of our workshops, would have been 120 years old – a perfect moment for the eleven dot post to recognize this exceptional woman and her life’s achievements.
drafts flowing from young Grete’s hand already reflected her own distinctive style. While still at the Crafts and Design Academy, the young designer came to the attention of Karl Schmidt, founder of the German Workshops for Handcrafted Art in Dresden-Hellerau (today world-famous as “Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau”). He invited her to take up residency in his renowned workshops. While there, she primarily designed furniture, but also items for the affiliated toy department. The figurative always held a special appeal for her. On a study trip to Munich, she had the opportunity to deepen and develop her knowledge – what she would later term “a
wonderfully productive time.” During this period, she also developed the figurine compositions which would eventually form the basis for her company’s later success: taking part in a competition for travel keepsakes for the Saxon Local Historical Society, she created her “Berry Pickers.” A delightful figure composition of two girls and a boy carrying jars stuffed to the brim with berries – a true-to-life creation, folksy and realistic, just as the local people around her actually lived. Grete Wendt’s work was honored and subsequently published in numerous magazines. The response was overwhelming. It seemed everyone wanted to own these precious little Berry Pickers.
Grete Wendt attending to the Wendt & Kühn display at the Leipzig Trade Fair, late 1930s
Grete Wendt was born in Grünhainichen in 1887. Even as a child, she loved to draw and paint, showing a special talent for form and figure design. Her father, Albert Wendt, was director of Grünhainichen’s trade school and assuredly recognized his daughter’s gift. She spent the majority of her childhood in her parent’s workshop and in the woodworking rooms at Grünhainichen’s toymakers. Painting and drawing, creating and tinkering, that was her world. So her father sent the young Grete to the Royal Saxon Academy for Crafts and Design in Dresden, already a first-class address for contemporary design even back then. There, under Prof. Junge, the talented young lady learned the technical basics for her art. Even the very first
The gracious and observant eyes of Grete Wendt among her painting women. This photograph was taken in the 1950s and shows the company founder on one of her daily walks through manufacturing.
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2007 Edition | Page 5
of the Angel Creator Together with Grünhainichen’s best lathe operators, she set about fulfilling the flood of orders. Grete Wendt was not one to rest on her laurels, she was not one to rest at all, and the response she received from customers showed her that the public would clamor for her designs. So together with Margarete Kühn, a friend from the Royal Saxon Academy for Crafts and Design, the two founded the “M. Wendt & M. Kühn” company on October 1, 1915. They modestly described their enterprise as “Fine Wood Craft Articles, Toys and KnickKnacks.” Their workshop’s first creations were angels of light, chests, splint boxes and lathed boxes. New designs were con-
tinually added so that it wasn’t long before their collection encompassed several hundred items. A treasure trove of ideas and a profusion of creativity served Grete Wendt well through the years. With her unique talent for form and color, she created an arsenal of inestimable value, one which
not always easy to lead the company after the hard initial years through the time of the world’s great Depression and Second World War into the GDR era (socialist East Germany). But she never let her creativity suffer. In her figures she designed a warm “ideal world” in which the youthful creations exuded a pastoral nostalgia and thus gave people an opportunity to escape their hectic everyday lives for a moment or two. And that’s what still makes the figurines from Wendt & Kühn so popular even today. And why we still work from the unique designs of the great Grete Wendt – well aware of how much pleasure we are thereby spreading in the world. On
Grete Wendt at her drawing board in a historical photograph from 1934
our manufacture still draws on today. She was the first to have succeeded in lending wood-lathed figures an amazing lifelike motion and gracefulness. She did so by using diagonally-cut pieces which were then glued together to emulate the natural flow of movement – an innovative accomplishment at the time, and one which still defines the unmistakable character of the figures from our traditional workshop. Yet even more than her technical acumen, it was Grete’s creative nature which shaped the unique charm of the Wendt & Kühn figurines. Their childlike carefreeness and blitheness, always with a gentle smile on their lips, so full of guilelessness, helpfulness and friendliness – in her figures, Grete Wendt perfectly expressed the characteristics which not only made her a highly gifted artist, but also an extraordinary woman. What in the early years she so modestly called “toys and knick-knacks” soon captured a firm place in the world of traditional Erzgebirge wooden crafts and became the yardstick for all which was to follow. Grete Wendt lived for her art. It was
Grete Wendt speaking to the crowd celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary; October 1965
the occasion of her 120th birthday, please allow us to let the last two sentences of her brief speech commemorating the company’s 50th anniversary in October 1965 ring out anew: “We express our appreciation to every single one of you and we hope that our resourceful teamwork will continue into the future. We should never forget: the secret to the success of all work lies in the great spirit which created it.”
2007 Edition | Page 6
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Cupid to herald in our Gold Edition No 1 Our first Cupid Angel was designed back in the 1920s. The Gold Edition No 1 now honors three very special emissaries of love from the Grünhainichen Angels® collection as glorious reissues. Haven’t angels always had something to do with love? And isn’t love itself always something utterly divine? Such musings were no doubt the inspiration behind Grete Wendt designing her first winsome Cupid in the mid-1920s. Armed with bow and arrow, the celestial servant takes straight aim for the hearts of collectors and couples the world over. How exactly Cupid steals up on his “victims” has unfortunately never been documented – does he fly down from above, sneak impishly out of the bushes upon two arm-in-arm souls, or does he simply make a beeline straight for a lovestruck couple? In order to cover all the bases, Wendt & Kühn’s Cupids come in six different variations: aloft, standing and kneeling, each version available facing both left or right.
You’re certain to find the perfect pose to steal your own beloved’s heart! And there’s no shortage of occasions to let this divine messenger lift your sweetheart’s spirits: wedding anniversary, Valentine’s Day, a brand new beginning, or simply to say: “To me, you are as precious as gold!” The radiant reissue of these heavenly creations features a very special highlight certain to bring a smile to collectors and sweethearts alike: the bows and arrows of these Gold Edition No 1 messengers of love are plated in 24-carat gold. The newly-reissued Gold Edition offers suitors and collectors something utterly exceptional in the truest sense of the word. And as one might gather from the name, “Gold Edition No 1,” there may very well be further glorious golden editions with genuine goldplated accents to capture even more hearts in the future.
The beloved Grünhainichener Angels ® welcome new musical accompaniment. New musicians join the Grünhainichener Angel Orchestra each year. In 2006, the wind section of our large orchestra welcomed an angel with a French horn, while an angel with a pan flute plays magical melodies from a crescent moon and another minstrel sitting atop a clip adds a little harmonious rhythm with golden cymbals. In addition, our maracas-wielding angel provides lively accents.
650/70/27 Angel with pan-flute on the moon
650/112 Cupid, suspended
650/90/11 Angel with cymbals on clip
650/65 Angel with maracas
650/111 Cupid, kneeling
650/110 Cupid, standing
650/17a Angel with french horn, sitting
Height 5 - 8 cm / 2.0 - 3.2 inch
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2007 Edition | Page 7
and more heavenly additions Since early 2007, an angel playing the melodica has been enriching the sound of the heavenly orchestra with a new instrument, next to her sits an angel with a harmonica and an angel with a mandolin. The latter has found a comfortable seat atop a practical clip – an excellent perch from which to dress up a Christmas tree or a wreath. The little drummer angel astride a comet meanwhile keeps the beat going for all her fellow divinely-inspired musician friends.
650/70/10 Angel with drum on comet
Heavenly News 2007 Three Marguerite angels are added to the series of little Snowflake angels: Marguerite angel with plate and bird (Art. No. 634/70/7), Marguerite angel, knitting (Art. No. 634/70/8) and the Marguerite angel with presents (Art. No. 634/70/9).
A series of small filigree creatures They came to life on the drawing board of Olly Wendt in the year 1935, although likely only manufactured in small quantity in her time and never included in the product catalogue. In response to heavy demand, the company has now decided to continue the reissues as something of
650/66 Angel with melodica
a very special Christmas 2007 present for all collectors and admirers of these tiny creatures. The diminutive but industrious heavenly messengers knit, lovingly wrap gifts, and even remember to feed the birds on such cold winter days.
650/90/4 Angel with mandolin on clip
634/70/4 634/70/1
634/70/5
634/70/2006 Marguerite angels, sitting 3 figurines 634/70/2 Marguerite angel with gingerbread 634/70/3 Marguerite angel with tree 634/70/6 Marguerite angel with toy box
650/26a Angel with mouth - organ, sitting 634/70/3 634/70/2
634/70/2005 Marguerite angels, sitting 3 figurines 634/70/1 Marguerite angel with book and pen 634/70/4 Marguerite angel with apple basket 634/70/5 Marguerite angel with lamb
634/70/6
Height 4,0 cm / 1.6 inch
2007 Edition | Page 8
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Springtime blossoming The traditional crafters at Wendt & Kühn greet the new year with two lovely little Easter Girls. Many other figures also add their own cheerful splash of color and charm to the expanded Grünhainichen collection. May we have this dance? Step into spring with our captivating Dancing Couple! Delight in the earnest step the small dancer takes as he requests the honor of a festive dance from his lovely partner. Her hand raising to take his, she gathers up her light blue skirt and floats over the flowering spring meadow with him – straight into happiness. Even as far back as the supplement to our company’s first catalogue in 1924, the youthful dancing couple stole hearts as a cherished addition to the Wendt & Kühn collection. After a long break, the dancers have now waltzed their way back into the 2007 collection. Our flock of Easter Kids has also grown this
year. After delighting the fans of our figurines with a pair of Easter creations two years ago, we’ve now added a girl with an Easter basket and a beaming aproned girl. Particularly whimsical is how the blond girl gathers up her white apron in order to safely carry the three brightly-painted Eas-
ter eggs to their hiding places. Underneath she wears a fancy gingham dress. She is accompanied by her brunette friend in a light-blue dress set off by a dazzling white pinafore, just having taken a shiny red egg out of her Easter basket and about to hide it in the grass. Soon the merry Easter Egg Hunt will start under a brilliant blue sky – a joyous Easter full of life and youthful charm. Two adorable Grete Wendt designs from the late 1920s also make for sweet reissue. Beaming with joy, the Baker Kid pair has been warming customer’s hearts anew ever since the 2006 Wendt & Kühn collection.
5407/1-2 Dancing couple Height 7,5 cm / 3.0 inch
5240/5-6 Easter Girls Height 6 cm / 2.4 inch
Height 7,5 cm / 3.0 inch
Easter surprise in the green grove The reissue of the girl with egg basket (right) and the girl with apron (left) adds even more grace to Wendt & Kühn’s blossoming Easter roundel.
Height 6,5 cm / 2.6 inch
641/5222 Baker children, 1 pair
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2007 Edition | Page 9
2007 Figure of the Year A trip down memory lane for collectors: an elegant Bavarian lass with handbag, hat and umbrella takes her exclusive place – this year only – in the Wendt & Kühn collection. For some years now, we’ve been delighting countless collectors by reissuing special figures as annual editions. After featuring the Fisher and Baker kids from the North, we now turn to the southern reaches of Germany as represented in our voluminous archives to breathe new life into our Bavarian Girl. Our posh Bavarian made her first appearance in our 1937 catalogue. Smartly-dressed in the fashion of the time, she still cuts a fine figure today. With her fancy gingham dress over which she has layered a gleaming white pinafore and a crisp blue jacket, she’s on her way into town. A large handbag will hold her purchases while the red umbrella attests to her stylishness and flair. Perhaps she’ll even meet a proper Bavarian lad in the city whom we’ll have the honor of introducing to you next year. As has become a wonderful tradition with our annual editions, our Bavarian Girl is showcased in an elegant green passepartout presentation box, which lends a worthy setting to this fetching maiden. Be sure to order your own limited collector’s edition in exclusive packaging and keep an eye out for her male companion, sure to set more than just our Bavarian Girl’s heart aflutter in 2008!
Special edition in exquisite packaging Encased in special packaging, the wonderful tradition of our annual limited collector’s editions is continued in 2007. 5210/42a Bavarian girl, Height 8 cm / 3.2 inch
Industrious craftsmen on parade This series of industrious craftsmen from the 1940s, seven in all, are now diligently getting back to their craft in a reissue of an initial three figures in the current 2007 collection. Art drawn from real life has always been a trademark of Wendt & Kühn, and in that sense, these industrious craftsmen – originally commissioned in the 1940s during the reconstruction of the city of Dresden – are certainly typical of our company’s figurative creations.
5311/1 Brickie with rubbing board & trowel
As witnesses to the arduous reconstructive efforts after World War II, they have the spirit and stamina needed to get the work done. With his trowel and scraper board, the Bricklayer will smoothly plaster freshly-bricked walls, the Brick Carrier ensures material supplies will never run out, and the Construction Worker with his mattock is already digging the foundation for the next building. These industrious journeymen will be joined by other hardy colleagues over the next two years – a painter, a carpenter and two more bricklayers. The 2007 collection thus lays the foundation for a first-class craftsmen’s guild. Certain to bring a smile not only to fans and collectors, but also to architects, newlylicensed journeymen and foremen, and all craftsmen everywhere who create masterful works with their hands.
5311/2 Construction worker with hoe
5311/4 Brick Carrier with panier
Height 8-9 cm / 3.2-3.5 inch
2007 Edition | Page 10
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Bring home the bacon – to your stove What grandma or grandpa doesn’t take pleasure in putting a pretty penny or two into their grandchildren’s piggy banks? Our newly-reissued stove banks make saving twice the fun because they’re not only a treat for the wallet, but also for the eyes. Once upon a time, people gathered around their tiled stoves on long, snowy winter evenings to play music or tell stories. This tradition must have been the inspiration behind the entire series of stove banks Grete Wendt designed around 1930. Two of her designs have now been reissued in our current 2007 collection. Imagine recapturing that warm, snug feeling in front of an old tiled stove. How its streams of warm air filled the entire room, creating a coziness which just can’t be duplicated with today’s modern heaters. Warming your back after the day’s hard work is done, putting your feet up and enjoying the comfort of a warm and relaxing evening. Often the tiled stove was not only a provider of heat, but also the very heart of cultural life within one’s own
four walls, the central meeting place for telling stories, chit-chatting and creating music – with your purring kitty snuggled up in your lap to be petted. These nostalgic scenes come to life again in Wendt & Kühn’s lovinglymodeled stove banks. Put yourself in the place of the towheaded girl on the stove bench and enjoy a welldeserved free evening with your cat, or sway along to the spirited sounds the young boy’s accordion conjures up in your mind. Realistic scenes from everyday 1930s life as Grete Wendt herself might have lived while designing her complete series of stove motifs. In addition to their visible beauty, these fanciful creations also have an extremely practical function: a small slit on top of the stove makes coins vanish into the dark depths – not in the sense of burning money, but so that you can later bring your savings out into the light and appreciate just how much has accumulated over time.
5271/13 Saving oven, boy with concertina Height 10 cm / 3.9 inch
5271/14 Saving Oven, Girl with Cat, Height 10 cm / 3.9 inch
Miniature cat and mouse Two beloved little details from the stove bank designs, the cat and the mouse, are also available separately. Whether the majestic black feline or the understated gray tabby – seemingly taking a cat nap, but certainly also keeping a watchful eye on the little mouse. It doesn’t help that the mouse is so tiny – a formidable challenge for the manual dexterity of the craftsmen fashioning this delicate little figure only millimeters in size!
Height 0,8-2,0 cm / 0.3-0.8 inch
5286/2 Cat, black
5289/2 Little Mouse, sitting
5289/1 Little Mouse, running Charm you can bank on The lovingly-created stove bank invites you to fill it up – and, with the money you save, perhaps invest in another stove bank...
5286/1 Cat with gray stripes
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2007 Edition | Page 11
Melodic mechanisms from Switzerland In the search for kindred spirits in the exacting commitment to finely-crafted arts, Wendt & Kühn first turned to Switzerland in the 1920s. Today, the mechanical music works which lend their melodies to our music boxes are produced in the small village of SainteCroix. Charles Reuge began manufacturing musical clocks in the Swiss village of Sainte-Croix in 1865, his son Albert went on to establish a music box company in 1886. Because Reuge is one of the few Swiss manufacturers able to do justice to the demanding production of music works, Wendt & Kühn and this quality Swiss supplier have had a close relationship for many years. Which is why even after being informed that the Reuge company has now raised their prices, we will continue to obtain our music works from Sainte-Croix. The increased price for our music boxes is based not only on higher material and energy costs, but also on a key technical innovation: instead of the 28-tone works supplied to date, Wendt & Kühn has since begun using 36-tone works. A small but notable sound revolution: richer, more melodic, more resonant.
Peek into the mechanical world of music With an eye to perfection, the tiny angel inspects the mechanical heart of the music mechanism before its implantation into the wooden body of a Wendt & Kühn music box for all to hear.
These works still provide all the magical charm of nostalgic music works but the melodies become that much fuller. We hope that you, our valued customers, will appreciate the decision we have made in favor of even better tonal quality and that despite the price increase, you will continue to give the nod to our music
Music boxes have been manufactured in Sainte-Croix since 1811, since earning the small village an international reputation.
boxes. We’ll continue to assure you that Wendt & Kühn insists on high-quality musical mechanisms of original Swiss manufacture – an artistic alliance in which our German tradition of exacting craftsmanship and the famed precision of the Swiss make for perfect harmony.
2007 Edition | Page 12
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Slumber Vault What kind of collector are you? Do you leave your Grünhainichener Angels in your display case the entire year, to delight in them 365 days long? Or do you carefully pack up the delicate figures after Christmas and then spend the rest of the year looking forward to the Advent season when you can wake your precious angels from their summer hibernation? So that your angels can enjoy the well-deserved rest befitting such heavenly spirits over the summer months, Wendt & Kühn came up
Carefully wrapped up in tissue paper, the little angels slide into their slumber vaults.
with something utterly divine: the Slumber Vault. A decorative chest divided into 36 small compartments, each affording exactly one angel a perfect fit. Nothing can shift out of place and nothing can be jostled. Carefully wrapped up in the furnished tissue paper, your valuable collector’s pieces are optimally protected the entire year. With proper storage between 10 and 25°C (50 - 75°F), your little cherubs will last many, many years to come and bring you a lifetime of joy.
In the gluing department, dexterous hands and trained eyes ensure that out of a multitude of minute little pieces, the distinctive true-to-life Wendt & Kühn figurines come to life. Any time you might need to talk to Annette Heim, you’ll be certain to find her right alongside her industrious workshop colleagues, ringed by crates and boxes filled with arms and legs, bodies and trousers. Her work space is rich with the
Glue, brush, a sharp knife and here and there a gauge - all the rest is handiwork and a keen eye for detail.
homespun smell of wood and white glue. A steady hand, experienced eye and a sharp woodcarving knife are the tools of her daily trade, helping her give wings to countless angels over the years and getting small armies of Blossom Kinder onto their own two feet. Annette Heim’s father, Hans Sobeck, was himself a toy painter. He first learned his craft at Wendt & Kühn and had also attended the Grünhainichen trade school (in the footsteps of former director Albert Wendt). As a child, Annette grew up with the Wendt & Kühn figures, her father having once worked in our workshops. Mr. Sobeck also accompanied his eldest daughter as she interviewed with company director Hans Wendt in the spring of 1981.
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2007 Edition | Page 13
How angel get their wings
Dexterous female – plus a smattering of male – hands masterfully glue together the often miniscule wooden parts into finished figure compositions true to their historical origins.
The 46-year-old still remembers that day as if yesterday. In a nutshell, Hans Wendt told her father: “Then take your daughter out into the workshop and show her everything so that she can form her own impression.” The gluing department was the first place Mr. Sobeck took his young – at that time very shy – daughter. And there Annette was quite happy to discover that not only was the forewoman a neighbor of the Sobecks, but she also saw a few other familiar faces amidst all the exotic paraphernalia. When it was time to leave the gluing area and continue on through the rest of the operations, Annette demurred, saying she liked it there, she really didn’t need to see any other department. Which is how she came to be a figurine gluer, actually out of bashfulness. What came about so spontaneously at the time would later prove to have been a remarkable stroke of luck, because today Annette can look back at more than 25 years with the company, not without a certain amount of pride. And even after so many years, Annette still feels that creating her cherished angels from all their individual minute parts, taking on the role of “midwife,” if you will, is an amazing experience. But all beginnings start with baby steps. Annette first started by gluing simpler figures, her first Musical Angel was the Conductor, she remembers. Since she took to the work as if born to it, she advanced quickly and it wasn’t too long before she ventured into tackling harder figures like the Pied Piper. What comes so easily and naturally to her today is the result of un-
told smaller steps along the way. Because joining together these small arms, legs and other parts is by no means as easy as it looks. The angels’ little curls are first turned as hoops before they are sculptured into their final shape with a sharp blade. If the angel is to hold an instrument, the arm must be cut at a precisely determined angle. If it’s not perfect, the instrument will end up positioned in the wrong place or there will be unacceptable gaps between the body and arm. When we met up with her, Annette was working on the latest angelic musician to have joined our heavenly ensemble last January, our Angel with Melodica. Annette reveals that her favorite angel to bring to life is still our Angel with Cello. No particular reason, “I just like it the best.” There’s not much trace of her former shyness left today. Which is something you can see for your-
self during our Open House Days in Grünhainichen and Seiffen. Together with her colleagues, Annette Heim will pass on quite a bit of interesting lore about creating Wendt & Kühn’s figures and music boxes. An open invitation to all visitors who stop to enjoy a moment in her company.
During our Open House Days, Annette Heim not only demonstrates how the figures are assembled, but she’ll also share a story or two.
Midwife con amore Right from the start, the childlike charm of our figures radiates from their true-to-original artistic design as well as the spirited dedication and great attentiveness paid to their handcrafted creation. As is certainly apparent from this view of gluer Annette Heim assembling members of the newly re-issued Journeymen series.
2007 Edition | Page 14
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Open House at Wendt & Kühn Again in 2007, Wendt & Kühn invites you to enjoy a fascinating look behind the scenes of our artistic trade and enjoy the varied program of events we have planned for the entire family during our Open House days. 2007 Open House schedule - Wendt & Kühn in Grünhainichen 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day: Oct. 31 – Nov. 4 (Reformation Day) Dec. 1 – 2 (first Advent) - Wendt & Kühn World of Figures Gallery in Seiffen 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day: Oct. 20 – 21 (Day of Traditional Crafts) The sweet cherubic angels of traditional Wendt & Kühn manufacture, each with their spruce-green wings speckled with eleven white dots, command a following the world over. In keeping with yet another tradition, the Wendt & Kühn workshops in Grünhainichen will again open their doors this year to welcome all interested visitors into our House of Angels. Visitors are welcomed by actual little angels in white frocks who accompany their charges through the workshops, providing a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. You can look over the shoulders of the wood-turning lathe masters as they fine-tune their creations and see how our cherubs sprout wings, curls and feet. You can watch as the tiny figures are then dipped headlong into
Precision German craftsmanship Visitors get a close-up view of our highly-skilled craftsmen.
a white undercoat bath before receiving their unmistakable rosy faces in our painting department. Whether they’re gluing, sanding, gently turning the wood on the lathe, polishing, painting or attending to the final decorative touches – the industrious hands of our employees create magical works of art right before the marveling eyes of our Open House spectators. There’s a lot of other things to discover here as well. Our entire company is transformed into a unique onlooker’s paradise in which the whole family will enjoy an unforgettable afternoon. Our popular Tinkerer’s Row proves time and time again an irresistible magnet for children – they’ll eagerly lose themselves for hours puttering around with the lathed wood parts making up miniature railways, fire trucks and baby cradles. When they’re done, they can even paint their own artistic creations themselves. In the delightfully decorated Photo Corner, visitors can have a photograph taken as a remembrance of their special day. Depending on the time of year, adorable cherubs or sweet Blossom Kinder will add their own touch of grace and color to your family photograph. You end up with a keepsake scene of picturesque beauty you can also share with friends and family. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity; please come visit us this year! We’re looking forward to seeing you here!
Photo opportunity with angels Scenes from our Grünhainichen Photo Corner during previous 2006 Open House Days: Advent season (left) and Autumn (right).
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2007 Edition | Page 15
Kaleidoscope Wendt & Kühn Angels soar high in Washington Washington. Wendt & Kühn’s presentation as part of the 2006 ceremonies celebrating the “Day of German Unity” at the German Embassy in Washington D.C. was a complete success. Close to 2,500 visitors came to the celebration hosted by the Free State
of Saxony, many of them also lingering at the Wendt & Kühn display showcasing the manufacture of figurative wooden art, among them Saxonian Minister-President Georg Milbradt. “From the many conversations we were able to have during the presentation in Washington, it turned out that a good number of German visitors were already well aware of Wendt & Kühn.
Capital response Saxonian Minister-President Milbradt (right), taking in Wendt & Kühn’s presentation in Washington, shares a word with company head Tobias Wendt (second from right) and angel painter Kerstin Dittmann (left).
Grünhainichen Workshops. Since 1915.
Many of them already owned some of our famous angels. Even some American visitors were familiar with our little cherubs,” delights company head Tobias Wendt. “For all those who did not yet know who we were, it was a great opportunity to outline the singularity of our craftsmanship and demonstrate it to visitors right then and there,” he added. Those who stopped by the company’s display seemed particularly impressed by the exacting detail work of the painter who was hard at work right there in the embassy giving the angels their famous trademark – the green wings with eleven white dots. As a fine wooden arts company originally founded in 1915 and today employing a total of 170 people, our live demonstration and display at the German Embassy in Washington D.C. was part of a presentation hosted by the Free State of Saxony under the motto of “Baroque Meets High Tech.” The wellattended event not only gave visitors an idea of the traditional crafts which continue to thrive to the present day among Saxony’s research and industrial interests but also a glimpse of some of the region’s artistic and touristic pearls.
eleven dot post 2007 Edition
Keeping in touch If you would like to receive the eleven dot post on a regular yearly basis, we would welcome your subscription to our customer magazine. Simply fill out the postcard provided below, add the proper postage, and drop it back in the mail to us. If you have received this issue by mail, you need not fill out the postcard again but will be sent the following issues automatically. You can also sign up online by visiting www. wendt-kuehn.de and clicking on “Contact.” You will then be assured of receiving your Wendt & Kühn customer magazine right on time each year – what we hope you’ll agree is a delightful annual greeting from
our workshops to all our friends. At www.wendt-kuehn.de, not only can you subscribe to the eleven dot post, but you can also sign up to receive the Wendt & Kühn electronic newsletter. These shorter publications will keep you updated on the very latest news and novelties coming out of our workshops. Our locations This map shows you the location of our Grünhainichen headquarters (Manufacture and Sales; see photo below) and the Wendt & Kühn World of Figures gallery in the quaint toymaking village of Seiffen (Sales)
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Grünhainichen Workshops. Since 1915.
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