Heinrich Loffelhardt

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Heinrich "Heinz" Löffelhardt (born December 24, 1901 in Heilbronn ; † May 22, 1979 in Stuttgart ) was a German designer who had a decisive influence on industrial design in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. His porcelain and glass designs for Arzberg and Schott-Zwiesel are still made today.

Career

After graduating from high school in 1920 ,öffelhardt began an apprenticeship at the Heilbronn silverware factory Peter Bruckmann & Sons . The senior partner Peter Bruckmann made it possible, with a grant, to study sculpture with Georg Kolbe in Berlin from 1924 on. Only a few portrait busts that were created over the next four years have been preserved in private collections. The young sculptor returned to industry as a freelance designer. From 1934, on behalf of the “Beauty of Work” office , Löffelhardt developed canteen dishes that u. a. by Gebr. Bauscher and the ceramics works Bohemia in Neurohlau . In 1937, Rosenthal delivered the 700 "Beauty of Work" tea set designed by Löffelhardt to the Reich Labor Service . Characteristic were the onion-shaped, smooth jug body with a finger-wide neck ring, the curved tube nozzle and the ribbon handle. The Rosenthal daughter Thomas brought the Barb design onto the market. Wilhelm Wagenfeld engaged him in 1937 as an employee of the United Lusatian Glassworks in Weißwasser .

In 1941, Löffelhardt was drafted into the Wehrmacht and did not return from Soviet captivity until 1947. There were little prospects in the economy, so he followed Wagenfeld to Stuttgart and in 1949 worked in the department for design of the state trade office. After Wagenfeld's departure in 1950, he succeeded him as head of department. It was his particular merit to make it easier for domestic industry to adapt to international standards after years of isolation: the exhibitions and publications for which he was responsible particularly paid tribute to developments abroad. In doing so ,öffelhardt turned out to be a practical man, not a verbose theorist. At the same time he designed again for industry. For the Safe'sche Pharmacy in Heilbronn he designed jars; the Grail glass workshops in Göppingen produced his staple ashtrays.

Arzberg and Schönwald porcelain factories

Arzberg 2000, pitcher
Arzberg Form 1100, bowls with lids

At the end of 1952 he became the artistic director of the Arzberg and Schönwald porcelain factories and was thus responsible for the entire range. The design of both companies was inextricably linked with the name Hermann Gretsch . His "timelessly modern" line should be continued. Heinrichöffelhardt developed three models in 1954/55 (Arzberg 1542, Arzberg 2000, Schönwald 411), which were based on Gretsch's pre-war designs, but replaced their sluggishness with an elegant curve. In particular, the award-winning forms Arzberg 2000 and Arzberg 2025 seem to reflect something of the optimism of the economic boom .

The Schönwald 511 and Arzberg 2050/2075 models show truncated cone and cylinder shapes, the new geometric rigor of which, however, did not become dogma in the following years.

Also in 1960, the Arzberg 1100 stacking bowls came onto the market, whose precise, rectangular shapes made special technical demands on the production department. The idea of ​​creating a variety of possible uses with just a few - here six - parts through different combinations was new and has proven itself to this day.

In his last design, Arzberg 2007 Residence, he returned to organic forms in 1969, underlined by the slight fluting of all parts.

Öffelhardt determined the entire appearance of the dishes and gift items produced for over two decades. The photographer Willi Moegle has captured many of Löffelhardt's works.

Glass designs

From 1954 ,öffelhardt was responsible for shaping the Jena glassworks Schott & Gen. responsible in Mainz, including the subsidiary Vereinigte Farbenglaswerke Zwiesel . He designed goblets, bottles and vases. The Sintrax coffee machine has been functionally optimized. Spoonhardt's teapot was ranked among the 25 best contemporary design achievements in 1977 by the US magazine Fortune .

At Schott & Gen. öffelhardt had replaced Wilhelm Wagenfeld as designer; that brought about a falling out with Wagenfeld. The replacement of Wagenfeld is attributed in the literature to excessive fee claims. Öffelhardt replaced Wagenfeld's designs with a more modern program, both in the field of blown glass (tea sets) and pressed glass (baking molds).

Engineering design

Like most designers of the 1950s and 1960s, Löffelhardt primarily devoted himself to flavors. But he was also interested in the aesthetic side of new technical devices. In 1958, together with his protégé Hans Erich Slany, he designed the compact camera “Zeiss Ikonette” for Zeiss Ikon , one of the first cameras with a plastic housing.

Late years

Öffelhardt was appointed to the supervisory board of the Arzberger and Schönwalder parent company Kahla in 1959, and in 1963 to the supervisory board of the United Color Glass Works. His accomplishments were recognized, but advancement didn't mean his ideas of socially justified design were getting closer to implementation. The advancing automation and corporate concentration contributed to the rapid suppression oföffelhardt's work. In 1971 he left the company as artistic director. In 1977 his work for Schott-Zwiesel also ended.

In 1976 Heinrich Löffelhardt received honorary membership in the Association of German Industrial Designers , and in 1978 he was elected Honorary Senator of the Stuttgart Academy of the Arts .

Drafts (selection)

  • 1950: Arno Kiechle, ointment vessels (majolica)
  • 1952: Gral-Glashütte, pitchers C 90
  • 1953: Schönwald, form 411
  • 1954: Schwandorf, form 954 (earthenware)
  • 1954: Arzberg, Form 2000
  • 1955: Jenaer Glas, tea set
  • 1955: Schönwald, form 398
  • 1956: United Color Glass Works, Goblet Glasses 1007
  • 1957: Arzberg, Form 2025
  • 1957: Arzberg, set of dishes 1100
  • 1957: Schönwald, form 511
  • 1958: Jenaer Glas, cocoa jug
  • 1959: Arzberg, Form 2050
  • 1961: Schönwald, form 498
  • 1962: Arzberg, salt shaker and pepper mill 1529
  • 1963: United colored glass works, vase series 5073
  • 1963: Schönwald, form 611
  • 1963: Arzberg, Form 2075
  • 1964: Arzberg, form 2200
  • 1964: Schönwald, form 598
  • 1966: United colored glass works, goblet series 1027 Freesia
  • 1967: Schönwald, form 698
  • 1967 Arzberg Form 2300
  • 1968: Arzberg, Form 2375
  • 1969: Jenaer Glas, refractory glassware 2000
  • 1970: United Color Glass Works, Goblet Series 1089 Charlotte

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Schmitt: In memoriam Heinrich Löffelhardt . Ed. V. Baden State Museum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe 1980, p. 2.
  2. ↑ Dieter Struss: Rosenthal. Service, Figural, Ornamental and Art Pieces , Schiffer, Atglen 1997, p. 140.
  3. ↑ Entry Löffelhardt designlexikon.net, accessed on February 17, 2014
  4. ↑ See Peter Schmitt: In memoriam ... , p. 2.
  5. ↑ Peter Schmitt: In memoriam ... , p. 2 f.
  6. ^ Charlotte and Peter Fiell: Industrial Design AZ . Taschen, Cologne 2000. ISBN 978-3-8228-6310-7 .
  7. ↑ Peter Schmitt: In memoriam ... , p. 3.
personal data
SURNAME Öffelhardt, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Öffelhardt, Heinz (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Heilbronn
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1979
Place of death Stuttgart