Karl Dittert

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Karl Dittert (born August 16, 1915 in Mährisch Trübau ; † October 30, 2013 ) was a German product designer. He worked as a teacher, professor and founding rector at today's Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Design .

Life

Childhood, education, war and displacement

Karl Dittert was born on August 16, 1915 in Mährisch Trübau (then Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic) as the third son of Franz Dittert. His father was a cabinet maker and cabinet maker, his mother a goldsmith. Karl Dittert grew up in a creative environment and learned how an object is designed and manufactured.

After his school education from 1921 to 1930, Dittert began his career at the silver and metal goods factory Franz Bibus & Son in Mährisch Trübau. During an internship he completed his training as a steel engraver and silversmith. In the creative design department he became a draftsman and was finally head of the department from 1935 to 1937 and from 1945 to 1947.

Dittert waived his exemption from military service in order to keep studying at an art college open. He did his military and military service first in the Czechoslovak and later in the German army from 1937 to 1945. Due to an injury, he was able to study in Berlin at what is now the UdK Berlin.

During the war, Karl Dittert married Hilde Köppl in 1941. On January 11, 1945, their son Bernd was born.

Dittert's family and relatives were expelled from the Czechoslovak Republic in 1946 after the end of the war. Dittert first came to the bombed-out Pforzheim and met Wilhelm Wagenfeld at the State Trade Office (LGA) in Stuttgart . He recommended him to Professor Hans Warnecke at the state higher technical school in Schwäbisch Gmünd , who taught there in the sense of the Bauhaus theory.

Education

From 1946 Dittert studied at the "State Higher Technical School for the Precious Metals Industry" (today Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Design ) in the master class of Professor Hans Warnecke. At the same time, he worked as a designer for Wilhelm Binder, the largest silver goods factory in the area. During his studies he received a teaching position for body drawing at the school.

Dittert's Professor Hans Warnecke met in Stuttgart with a group of former Bauhaus members and artists (including Willi Baumeister (student of Adolf Hölzel ), Ottomar Domnick (art collector, film author and psychiatrist), and the designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld ). Karl Dittert was allowed to take part in these meetings from time to time. Lucia Moholy was sometimes his guest and reported on the development of modernity in America (e.g. Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ). In February 1949 Dittert passed the higher technical examination and master’s examination in goldsmithing “with distinction”.

Teaching activity and professorship

Shortly after his master craftsman examination, Karl Dittert received the teaching assignment for "Drawing and Representation for Jewelry and Equipment" and expanded it into a course which was later published in extracts in the trade journal "Gold + Silber".

In 1949, Dittert took over from Hans Warnecke, who was appointed to the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart . Dittert taught subjects such as "jewelry drawing", "technical drawing for silversmiths", "designing silver implements" and "industrial design" (later "industrial design"). "Model making", "technical drawing" and "product development" and "photography" later added to his teaching content.

In 1952 the "Industrial Design" class was resumed and became the nucleus of the "Industrial Design" course. This met the need for functional and well-designed industrial products in Germany. From 1958, Karl Dittert systematically expanded the position of his predecessor Wilhelm Braun-Feldweg . With his publication “Norms and Forms of Industrial Production” he launched an appeal to create a design theory for industrial designers that was up to the new tasks of their time.

In 1961 Dittert was appointed professor. 1970 to 1972 he was director of the "Staatliche Werkkunstschule Schwäbisch Gmünd", 1972 to 1979 rector of the "Fachhochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd".

In the three decades in total, Karl Dittert systematically established and taught the discipline (industrial) design in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The former technical college became a technical college during his service. As a teacher, he influenced several generations of designers, including Hartmut Esslinger , Walter Giers, Eberhard Meurer, Wolfgang CR Mezger, Reiner Moll, Kurt Ranger, Volkmar Rommel, Georg Spreng. In addition, Dittert worked as a freelancer for industrial companies.

Freelance work

Parallel to his teaching activity, Karl Dittert founded a design office in 1950. His assignments are varied and include brochure, packaging and exhibition stand design. At first he worked for silver and metal goods factories such as WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG or Peter Bruckmann & Sons .

Dittert was the designer for a research contract for stainless steel series table-top appliances for the silverware factory Gebrüder Kühn Schwäbisch Gmünd. However, the company could not switch to steel processing, produced the range in nickel silver with a silver plating and prevented market leadership due to the maintenance effort involved. The product was nevertheless exhibited as an exemplary design, received the silver medal of the XII. Triennale Milan and is now a sought-after collector's item.

At the end of the 1960s, Dittert concentrated on the kitchen and office workplaces: he worked with ritterwerk from 1967–2005. He developed a form of cutting machine that served as a role model in the industry and received the Federal Prize for Design. From 1971 Karl Dittert was responsible for the new developments of the furniture manufacturer VOKO Franz Vogt & Co. (Gießen). Office furniture, office workplaces, office chairs, banking equipment, loungers and exhibition stands were part of the long-term collaboration. As Karl Dittert's first table for VOKO, the MEP table became the model for a generation of new jobs.

After his retirement, Dittert worked intensively as a designer again. It was only when he was eighty that he stopped taking on new employees. He's still working at 90.

voluntary work

In the early years Dittert published a series of articles on technical drawing in the specialist journal “Gold + Silber”.

In 1959 he founded the “Association of German Industrial Designers” (VDID) with Theo Baumann, Herbert Hirche, Günter Kupetz , Peter Raacke , Rainer Schütze, Hans Erich Slany and Arno Votteler , which established the profession of industrial designer and advised (young) designers should.

From 1960 Dittert headed the “Product Form Silver” working group of the Association of the Precious Metals Industry.

In 1973 Dittert was head of the "Design Training" working group in the southern region. Its aim was to develop and define framework plans for training and graduation. He was a member of the editorial board of various design magazines such as “Technische Konsumgüter”, “moebel interior design” and “design international” and complements this activity with lectures in front of a specialist audience.

Dittert was in the " Council for Design ", the " German Werkbund ", the German Society for Goldsmithing eV Hamburg, a member of the Goldsmiths' Company of London and a member of the Free Academy of Arts Mannheim. He was also a member of the jury of international competitions at home and abroad: from the design centers in Stuttgart, Hanover, Cologne and Milan and from “Die gute Industrieform” Hanover.

In general, Karl Dittert was committed to anchoring industrial design in society and the economy.

Well-known clients

E30 Professionell (ritterwerk), 1984

Awards

Ditter's products were shown in many exhibitions and were also type-building and industry-leading. All products that were developed by Büro Dittert and that appeared on the market were given the "Good Form" rating. He also received several federal awards from the Federal Ministry of Economics.

The exhibits can be found in the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, the Design Center Stuttgart , the New Collection Munich, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He was represented at the Triennale Milan, as well as at exhibitions in Leningrad, Kiev and Moscow . For this he received the following prizes, among others:

  • 1947: Wilhelm Müller Competition
  • 1952: "Thank you donation from the German people"
  • 1959: "The silver coffee pot" of the Society for Goldsmithing
  • 1960: Silver medal of the XII. Triennial Milan
  • 1960: Diploma from the National Industrial Design Council for models in stainless steel * 1960 Award from the National Industrial Design Council Canada
  • 1983: IBT Award Chicago
  • 1984: First Price System Design, New York
  • 2010: Citizen Medal of the City of Schwäbisch Gmünd
  • Federal award for design
  • "Good shape"
  • "Good industrial form"

Exhibitions

  • 2009: "Revealed", University of Design, Schwäbisch Gmünd
  • 2009: "Revealed", House of History, Stuttgart
  • 2010: “Servito! called! uncovered! ”, HUGO BOSS Italia SpA showroom, Salone del Mobile, Milan

Web links

literature

  • Report from the Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Design, 1979–1985
  • The typical as a design goal: the teacher and product designer Hans Warnecke H. Bachmayer, K. Lehmann, O. Sudrow; Hatje Cantz Verlag 1980 ISBN 3-89322-029-1
  • Experimental research design Contribution by Karl Dittert in the institute at Weißenhof "Interior architecture and furniture design" A. Votteler, H. Eilmann; Oktogon-Verlag 1980–1990
  • Industrial culture - industrial design: a piece of German economic and design history Marquart, Christian [Ed .: Design Center Stuttgart…]; Berlin: Ernst, [approx. 1993]; ISBN 3-433-02343-3 ; Pp. 85-103
  • Two x 12 German designers. [...] Konrad Kohlhammer (ed.), G. Schultz, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Kohlhammer 1997
  • Design Since 1945 - Philadelphia Museum of Art New York , K. Hiesinger and G. Marcus; Rizzoli 1983 ISBN 0-8478-0519-0
  • Karl Dittert: Product design in the years 1950 to 1985. Working examples. K. Dittert; VOKO, Franz Vogt & Co. KG 1986
  • Silver from Heilbronn for the world: P. Bruckmann & Sons (1905–1973) R. Singer, J. Hennze and H. Jacht; Götz, K 2001 ISBN 3-931411-99-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary dated November 1, 2013 on remszeitung.de
  2. ↑ “Museum collects it. Professor Karl Dittert is awarded the city's citizen medal ”in Gmünder Tagespost on October 10, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Dittert, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German product designer
DATE OF BIRTH August 16, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Moravian Trübau
DATE OF DEATH October 30, 2013