8. Ore Mountains & GDR
5. June 2020
The German Democratic Republic existed from 1949-1990. It was also called East Germany at that time. They produced a lot of traditional folk art items such as wooden nutcrackers, small wooden angels and of course our Fairy Tale Wood Plaques. They copied a lot from others, especially Hellerkunst and Mertens-Kunst. Many of the craft items were produced very beautifully, some were not. A few artists however seem to have found motives of their own.
Hand-painted on plywood. I like the pleated skirt. (Kurt Suss German Wall Figure Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Wood Picture Vintage...
Hand-painted on plywood. The original is 1940s Mertens-Kunst. Attributes: Long blond hair, Brothers Grimm, GDR Nursery Decor.
Look at the slim figures of the goose maids, the Star Money Girl and the Frog King: The are very...
In 1952 this producer of fairy tale wood pictures still owned her own company. Later it was added to the...
I love this collection, it helped me date GDR wood pictures more accurately. Before it I would have dated this...
My Dresden friend Brigitte had arranged an appointment in the Dresden Folkart Museum, its proper name being: „Museum für Saechsische...
I was lucky to have made a wonderful new friend in 2017. Brigitte is very interested in art (talented, too!)...
Early sceen print with added hand-painting. There are only a few designs of Rapunzel as German Wall Figure, this is...
Hand-painted on plywood. This is very popular motive, Snow White encircled with dwarfs. It's a VEB item, a GDR State...
Hand-painted on plywood. The former owner Kurt Suess (I am not sure about this, but I think it must have...
This is a very cute version of the famous Brothers Grimm's fairy tale. Beautiful Fifties! Huge gingerbread cookies! I'd really...
I've known this "Sandmannchen" in different colors. This is the green version. GDR Toys are still all the rage -...
Hand-painted on plywood. This figure had formerly been produced unter the name Edelholz Freiberg. That was before that manufacturer became...
Former Edelholz Freiberg was changed to an East German publicy owned VEB in then Communist GDR.
Hand-painted on plywood. Margarethe Edel copied this Little Red Riding Hood from Mertens-Kunst. They produced it in the 1930s and...
Look at the soft pastel colors! They are typical of Paul May. Fairy Tale Wood Picture.
Margarethe Edel was the founder of Edelholz Freiberg. She created wonderful motives, but this one is a copy. Mertens had...
Hand-painted on plywood. Height: 21 cm. WEHA was founded by Fritz Haupt just after the end of the Second World...
Hand-painted on plywood. Look at her braids: They seem to be flying with the wind. Beautiful. (Ore Mountains / GDR...
Hand-painted on plywood. It's a Brother's Grimm's fairy tale. It was produced in the GDR / East Germany. Fairy Tale...
Hand-painted on several layers wood to make the wall figure more solid. Height: 21 cm. I love the contrasting colors...
Hand-painted on 3mm-plywood. This is high quality design, with harmonious lines and colors. Look at the back basket’s structure! I...
Screen-printed with additional hand-painting, 24cm. They look so carefree and happy. Snow White puts her flower wreath on herself.
The left one is the original by Mertens-Kunst. The other one (Edelholz Freiberg) was produced in the Ore Mountains, during...
Hand-painted on plywood. There is a "WH" on the back, most likely refering to a part of Dresden callded "Weisser...
I love this Cinderella by Edelholz Freiberg. I have not found this motive being done by any other manufactury. It...
A typical Mother Holle motive. The unusual thing about this one is the winter forest pine and that there is...
This producer has a very unique style - how to put it? Colorful and round! Let’s not start with the...
Hand-painted on 3mm-plywood. Wonderful haptics, you can feel the paint layers.
Hand-painted on 4mm-plywood with varnish. I don't know this special (beautiful) style and I have no idea about the unknown...
Hand-painted on wood with varnish and rare. Very unusual too: Look at the many shadows!
The WEHA letters are for "Werkstätten Haupt" (Fritz Haupt) from the Ore Mountains. When the GDR took over, the owner...
Very unusual! It has really got a second layer of plywood. I like the "huge" bell flowers in baby pink...
I like this wood picture because it's an original idea of Edelholz Freiberg. In the 1960s and 1970s the GDR...
The manufactury Edelholz Freiberg belonged to Margarethe Edel. The GRD government took it from the owner and made it a...
Hand-painted on plywood. This is a copy of the much earlier Hellerkunst Winter Boy. Yes, it's a copy, but a...
This wooden wall figure got many likes on my Instagram account! It's a precious and rare motive by Edelholz Freiberg....
I like the little-girls-series by Edelholz Freiberg. Margarethe Edel did copies of Mertens and Hellerkunst, but those cute little girls...
Margarethe Edel is the woman behind Edelholz Freiberg. This wall figure has no name on the back, but they style...
One of the cute children wood pictures by Edelholz Freiberg. Hand-painted on 3mm-plywood. (GDR Childhood / Ore Mountains)
Many wood hangings depict children instead of fairy tales. Those were very popular, too. This little boy is hand-painted on...
Hand-painted on 3mm-plywood with varnish. The GDR TV Sandman was invented in 1959, so this must be late 1950s. (GDR...
WEHA stands for "Werkstaetten Haupt" founded by Fritz Haupt in 1946. Many of his fairy tale wood pictures were the...
It's a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The text says "I killed 7 at one go", not telling that it were...
Hand-painted on plywood. I have never seen Max and Moritz (Bad Boys by Wilhelm Busch) with Bow Shoes before. Look...
I like the lamellas, they are rare on mushrooms. Most don't have them. (Toadstool)
Screen-printed on 3 mm-plywood with additional hand-painting. Height: 25 cm. (GDR Toy)
Hand-painted on plywood, 21 cm height. Edelholz Freiberg produced during the GDR regime, too.
Hand-painted on plywood, 22cm. The pastel colors are typical of Paul May. The unusual things here is the star base...
A rather unusual Frog King, the princess is wearing gloves and her dress reminds a bit of underwear. I like...
Here we see Hans in Luck as a child. On a different version by Edelholz Freiberg he is an adult....
Most likely an original Margarethe Edel design. Clever not to choose the black hat! Now it doesn't look too much...
Hand-painted on unusually light wood / wood mix. It could be Kurt Süss, the style fits.
Platsch means splash, so his English name could be Pittisplash. He was a TV character in the then GDR and...
Schnatterinchen was the cute duck of the East-German TV-Sandman series and very popular at her time. Hand-painted on 3mm-plywood.
Someone who grew up in the GDR once told me this: Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, protesting in...
Both are hand-painted on wood with varnish. Both have a nice simple color scheme and are quite rare. Well done,...
This seems to be one of the original designs my Margarethe Edel, I have not seen it by other designers...
Hand-painted on plywood. ("152 / 5,25" --)
WEHA stands for "Werkstaetten Haupt" founded by Fritz Haupt in 1946. Many of his fairy tale wood pictures were the...