They sleep in old suitcases and boxes, in attics, in closets, and in drawers. The tissue paper that wraps them in their safe hiding places is often already yellowed. But as the days grow shorter and the evenings longer and the pre-Christmas preparations begin, their soft-cushioned time of rest slowly comes to an end. They are carefully brought back into the light.
For generations, they have been part of the carefully guarded Christmas treasures of many German families. But they have also long since captured the hearts of many people around the world: the small, cheerful angels with the green, dotted wings.
Many know them, many love them; for many, they are heartwarming childhood memories and family traditions. Children and grandchildren are still amazed today when they appear—often one after the other—in the apartments and houses as if by magic and begin to make music with their unique, serene, and joyful manner.
Silently, but visibly diligent, they flute and fiddle on windowsills; gather around the Advent wreath; form whole orchestras; inhabit music boxes; and finally float, merrily buoyant, between the green branches of the Christmas tree.
They are at home in many families, and yet only a few know their name or where and when they were born. The eternally young musicians were designed in 1923, very nearly 100 years ago, in Grünhainichen in the Ore Mountains, where they were first assembled and painted by hand.
They have carried their name with them ever since. The 11 white dots—even today, each one dabbed by a sure hand with a fine brush onto the little green wings—soon made them the “Eleven Dot Angels.”
Their creator, Grete Wendt, later answered the question of why there were exactly 11 dots with a mischievous “It just turned out that way.”
Living Tradition for Generations
However, her meticulous design drawings show that designer Wendt left hardly any detail of her creations to chance. The daughter of the director of the technical trade school in the burgeoning toymaking town of Grünhainichen, she began drawing, building, and tinkering enthusiastically as a child.Fostered and encouraged by her father, she followed her talent at the age of 20 and studied at the Royal Saxon School of Applied Arts in Dresden from 1907 to 1910. Her great talent for clear lines and minimalist design language is already evident in designs from that period.
A design competition for good travel souvenirs, organized by the Sächsischer Heimatschutz association, finally provided the impetus for founding the company. Wendt’s student colleague Margarete Kühn entered a prize-winning set of berry collector’s children, which triggered an avalanche of orders, some of which she commissioned from local toymakers and some of which she made by hand herself in her parents’ home.
Together with Kühn, the decision was made in 1915 to join forces and go into business. The Wendt & Kühn manufactory was born.
Five years later, in 1920, Kühn got married and left the company. Olly Sommer, also a graduate of the Royal Saxon Academy of Applied Arts, came to Grünhainichen that same year as a trainee, fell in love with the creative work—and with Wendt’s brother—and stayed for life.
The two women’s wealth of ideas and their joy in creative work was and remained the driving force behind the manufactory. Grete’s brother and Olly’s husband, Johannes Wendt, in turn, had taken over the commercial management of the young company.
A gold medal and a grand prix at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris finally brought international recognition and fame. Only a few years later, however, the manufactory and the family were hit by serious changes, heavy worries, and great suffering as a result of war and arbitrariness.
Saving Craft Heritage
The company’s turbulent history continued into the post-war years, when it was forcibly nationalized and transformed into a state-owned enterprise in the German Democratic Republic.Nevertheless, the manufactory managed to avoid industrial mass production and thus saved its craftsmanship, artistic skills, and knowledge over the decades.
In 1990, VEB Werk-Kunst Grünhainichen once again became the private Wendt & Kühn manufactory, now run by the third generation, and began to flourish once again.
All the hard, sad, and confused times have passed by the Elfpunkte angels as if without a trace. Perhaps this is the secret of their unique success story.
Their timeless, joyful nature inspires children’s imagination and takes adults back to their own childhood days. They are playmates and familiar family members at the same time.
Their quiet, sincere joy in music; their friendly servitude; and their fine smile and grace have given cheerful moments for generations. Ahead of their 100th anniversary, a call by the manufactory to write down stories about the angels and their special role in one’s own family history in the “Favorite Angel” campaign was answered by hundreds of touching submissions.
Spreading Joy
A small angel with an instrument is meticulously assembled from up to 27 turned, wooden raw parts—mostly lime, beech, and maple. This is followed by a triple dip in white paint, and only then is this solid primer decorated with several brushes of varying fineness and a steady hand. Almost 400 different colors, mixed down to the finest nuances according to historical color patterns, are still used. It takes up to 38 work steps, eight weeks, and the skilled hands of 175 employees for an Elfpunkte angel to leave the manufactory.It all began with three winged journeymen. One carried a torch, the second played the flute, and the third the violin. The trio grew over the years to an orchestra of eighty little musicians.
Even today, they fly out of the manufactory all over the world and move into apartments and houses as congenial musical housemates.
However, should the well-kept family member break a wing, despite all precautions, each Elfpunkte angel can travel back to its place of origin in Grünhainichen at any time, to be made whole again by helping hands.
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