Hedwig Bollhagen a ceramicist and a co-founder of the HB Workshops for ceramics. A museum dedicated to her work is near Berlin.
In 1925 she studied at the Fachhochschule (technical college) Höhr-Grenzenhausen in the Westerwald. She had already come in contact with members of the Bauhaus, which influenced her future work. In 1927 Bollhagen was invited to work in the Steingutfabriken (earthenware factory) Velten-Vordamm in the outskirts of Berlin. Though not yet 20, she became the supervisor of the more than 100 workers, ‘Malmädche’ (paint-girls). Her work in this position enhanced Bollhagen’s interest in the total production process of ceramics.
Due to the Great Depression in the early 1930’s, Bollhagen decided to produce simple, affordable dining ware. In 1934 she became artistic director of a ceramics workshop in Marwitz near Berlin. The buyer and Bollhagen’s business partner, Heinrich Schild, was a a leading member of the aligned (gleichgeschaltet) organization of German crafts and trades (Handwerk); he eventually signed the firm over to her. Production began in Marwitz in1934 with some 35 co-workers. Bollhagen began working with the painter and ceramicist Charles Crodel, experimenting new techniques and designs. After the Second World War, from 1946 to 1972, she maintained her workshops as a private enterprise, despite economic difficulties and built up a reputation as a ceramicist.
Please look under ‘Ceramics’ above to find work available to purchase.
