Erwin Andrä

Erwin Andrä (born May 20, 1921 in Dresden ) is a German designer . From 1964 to 1971 he was rector of the University of Industrial Design in Halle, Burg Giebichenstein in Halle (Saale) .

Life

After completing his apprenticeship as a model maker , Erwin Andrä, the son of a lathe operator and a florist, was drafted in 1941 and fought in World War II until 1944 . From 1944 to 1947 he worked as a model maker and took in 1947 to study at the University of craftsmanship in Dresden on. In 1950 he became a research assistant and later a lecturer there . From 1952 to 1955 Andrä taught at the Institute for Applied Arts and headed the wood and toy design department. In 1952 he joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In 1953 he became the curator of the GDR toy exhibition in East Berlin . In 1954, Andrä headed the exhibition series “German Applied Arts from the 16th Century to the Present” in Moscow .

From 1955 to 1961, Andrä was head of administration in the Ministry of Light Industry of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and from 1958 head of department in the State Planning Commission . From 1961 to 1964 he was director of the Institute for Toys in Sonneberg . From 1964 to 1971 he was rector and professor at the Halle University of Industrial Design, Burg Giebichenstein in Halle (Saale) . In 1965 he founded and headed the toy design department. From 1968 to 1970 he was Vice President of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR . In 1974 and 1978 he was a member of the international committee for the first and second " Quadrennial of Arts and Crafts of Socialist Countries" and in 1972 and 1977 a member of the jury for the seventh and eighth art exhibitions of the GDR in Dresden.

From 1980 to 1986 Andrä was the first prorector of the University of Industrial Design in Halle, Burg Giebichenstein and head of the international relations department. He established contacts with the Folkwang Music Academy in Essen and the Royal College of Art in London . In 1986 Andrä retired . Until 1990 he directed further education courses for university teachers at the College of Industrial Design in Hanoi . Today Andrä is active in the party Die Linke and sat on the advisory board for the zoological garden in Halle (Saale) . He is also a member of the Society for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity

plant

Andrä designed various utensils, including boxes, bowls, candlesticks made of wood, chess sets made of ebony and lemon woods . Andrä designed the hammer in the Saxon state parliament in Dresden. Andrä designed wooden toys for toddlers. Many sports play equipment , new forms of trampolines , strollers from the Zekiwa Zeitz company, dolls, playgrounds and playground equipment in Rostock come from Andrä .

Honors

• 1977 Patriotic Order of Merit (GDR)
• 1981 GDR design award
• 1983 Friendship Medal of the SR Vietnam
• 1986 Hans Grundig Medal (GDR)
• 1989 Star of Friendship between Nations (GDR)

Fonts (selection)

• Erwin Andrä: Toys . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1955.
• Erwin Andrä: Toys . University of Industrial Design, Halle 1968.
• Erwin Andrä and D. Kirchhöfer: Toys for Children - Childhood in the GDR . Frankfurt (Main) 2003.

literature

• Astrid Volpert:  Erwin Andrä . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• Dietmar Eisold (Ed.): Lexicon artists in the GDR . 1st edition. New life, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-355-01761-9 .
• Günter Meißner (Ed.): General artist lexicon . tape 27 . Verlag Sauer, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-598-22767-1 .
• Lothar Lang: Painting and graphics in East Germany . Verlag Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2002, ISBN 3-932545-97-4 .

Web links

• Interview with Erwin Andrä Auf: www.club-carriere.com , 2015.
• Interview with Erwin Andrä Auf: www.stiftung-industrie-alltagskultur.de , 2015.