Garden gnome manufacturer Philipp Griebel
The garden gnome manufacturer Philipp Griebel based in Gräfenroda is a traditional manufacturer of garden gnomes .
Philipp Griebel, who had trained as a porcelain maker and animal head modeler , founded the company in 1874. From the 1880s he produced garden gnomes. After his death in 1893, his son Wendelin took over management of the company. The Leipziger Messe was an important sales channel. In the 1930s, Wendelin handed the management over to his son Willi. Production was not stopped even during the Second World War .
Production only had to be temporarily interrupted in 1948 when the state of Thuringia banned the production of garden figures. During the GDR era, most of the garden gnomes were produced for export to West Germany . In the 1960s, new production facilities were built, and the garden gnome factory employed around 20 people. The operation was conducted in two steps to 1972 nationalized and firmierte by fusion with Balzer & Bock in VEB terracotta order. Willi Griebel left the company in 1980.
After turning Willis son Reinhard opened again automatically . The company produces custom-made ceramic garden gnomes and sells them, among other things, via the Internet. The museum about the history of garden gnomes is also located on the company's premises .