DIM
Berlin

DIM (Die Imaginäre Manufaktur) operates a brush factory in Berlin and this is where these brushes have been meticulously produced by hand for over 100 years. Thin bristles made of plant-based materials or of goat and horse hair, are planted into tiny holes on the wooden base. There are two key ways to tell if a brush has been made by hand. If you can see wire connecting the wooden base and bristles, or if the handle is composed of two parts, it is handmade. The connecting wires are hidden by wooden covers, which results in an interruption on the wood pattern.

Wooden bases lined up for use, and the process of individual bristle insertion.

Bristles being trimmed to the perfect shape after insertion.

Reifendreher

Seiffen

Seiffen is located in the Erzgebirge area, along the German-Czech border. Woodworking is a booming industry in this village, and here we find Reifendreher, a special woodturning technique that artisans use to craft traditional wooden toys. Christian keeps these techniques alive, creating scores of animal figures from wood. On the day of each new moon, he treks into the nearby mountains to fell 20 large logs. The logs are dried and then skillfully carved by expert craftsmen to form shapes resembling  Baumkuchen cakes. The logs are sliced crosswise and shaved into rings with a cross-section that forms the outline of an animal. The ring is then cut into thin slices, creating the wooden blocks in animal shapes.

Each with its specific purpose, dozens of different blades are used each time in shaping the wood.

The animal wood blocks are sorted by shape and hung from the ceiling in the basement of the workshop.

Deutscher Werkbund

Munich　Berlin

The Deutscher Werkbund was formed in Munich in 1907 by architects, craftsmen, and a number of companies, with the goal to improve the quality of products made in Germany. The association divided members into designers and producers and advocated making quality products a part of everyday life by establishing standards for manufactured products. This approach is still behind the high-quality products manufactured in Germany today.

The Deutscher Werkbund came out of the Werkbundarchiv, which operates the Museum der Dinge (Museum of Things). This museum collects and displays industrial and everyday products during this period, giving visitors an overview of modern German manufacturing to the present day.

Glass product made in Jena, Thuringen.

There are many German manufacturers of quality stationery.

Measuring Line in the Beer Glass

If you happen to glance in your empty beer mug while filling up on all the flavourful sausages, mashed potatoes, pretzels, and schnitzel, you will perhaps notice a distinct line etched inside. Germany is serious about its beer, and it is against the law here to serve a beer if the foam starts below this measuring line. This is a rule that seems to have come about in a very German fashion, as such a typical scene often ends in a fight. “Don’t try to fool me! This is more foam than beer!” All glasses and mugs used to serve beer in Germany are therefore etched with this all-important demarcation.