Käthe Wohlfahrt

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Käthe Wohlfahrt
legal form GmbH & Co. OHG
founding 1964
Seat Rothenburg ob der Tauber
management Harald Wohlfahrt
Branch Retail sale of Christmas items

Käthe Wohlfahrt in Bamberg, shop window with Christmas items

Käthe Wohlfahrt is a company based in Rothenburg ob der Tauber that deals in items related to Christmas .

Company formation

The company's history began with a music box that the married couple Wilhelm (1928–2001) and Käthe Wohlfahrt (1933–2018) brought to Stuttgart from their home in Saxony. This Christmas utensil aroused the interest of an American family friend who was visiting the Wohlfahrt family for Christmas in 1963. Therefore Wilhelm Wohlfahrt decided to give them a similar music box. He managed to find a dealer who, however, only wanted to sell him a set of 10 music boxes since Christmas was already over. Wohlfahrt bought this and gave a copy to the couple who were friends. On the recommendation of the befriended couple, he tried to sell the remaining music boxes in the American barracks to other officer families, but was stopped by the military police for prohibited door-to-door sales. On the recommendation of the police, Wohlfahrt sold the remaining music boxes at a charity bazaar . This led to the fact that the Wohlfahrts began to set up their own business with these products and to offer a steadily expanding range on the weekly markets. In 1964 they finally founded their own company in Herrenberg . For the new company they chose the name of Käthe Wohlfahrt because Wilhelm Wohlfahrt was still employed by a manufacturer of computers at that time.

Relocation to Rothenburg

Company car in front of the "Christmas Museum" in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

In 1977 the company moved from Herrenberg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The first specialty shop for Christmas items, "Käthe Wohlfahrts Christkindlmarkt", was opened here. The range of Christmas music boxes from the Erzgebirge also included a successor to the “Christ's Birth Music Box”, which the Wohlfahrts had given to their friends. In the following years more Christmas shops were opened. The company has branches in Berlin , Nuremberg , Bamberg , Oberammergau , Miltenberg , Heidelberg and Rüdesheim am Rhein . There are also stores in Riquewihr in France, Bruges in Belgium, Barcelona in Spain, York in England and Stillwater, Minnesota ( USA ). In addition, stalls are operated at Christmas markets.

In the main shop in Rothenburg ob der Tauber there is a Christmas museum and a Christmas exhibition. The range includes everything from candles , Christmas tree balls to incense candles , cribs and nutcrackers . The shop is open all year round.

In 1991 the company began to develop its own product lines under the name “Rothenburger Weihnachtswerkstatt”. The German Christmas Museum was opened on September 29, 2000 , in which the history of German Christmas is presented.

With the death of Wilhelm Wohlfahrt on May 5, 2001, Harald Wohlfahrt, the son of the founding couple, took over the management. In 2014 the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. On August 7, 2018, the company announced that the company's founder Käthe Wohlfahrt had passed away.

The company is well known beyond the German-speaking area. The head office in Rothenburg in particular is the destination of many tourists , also from overseas. Therefore, visits to Käthe Wohlfahrt are offered as part of trips to Germany or Europe.

literature

  • Susanne Rick: Käthe Wohlfahrt's Rothenburg Christmas Book. Pattloch, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-629-02034-8 .
  • Käthe Wohlfahrt (ed.): Nutcracker Shape and History. Käthe Wohlfahrt GmbH and Co. OHG, Rothenburg ob der Tauber 2003, ISBN 3-00-012386-5 .

Web links

Commons : Käthe Wohlfahrt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Our story - "The gift that blessed the giver". In: Kaethe-Wohlfahrt.com. Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Käthe Wohlfahrt. In: Handwerkskunst.net. Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  3. ↑ How it all began - the creation of the German Christmas Museum in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. In: Weihnachtsmuseum.de. Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Käthe Wohlfahrt died at the age of 85. In: Tagesschau.de. August 7, 2018, accessed June 16, 2019 .