Knowledge atlas
Crafts
Marlen Tröger, Wooden Toy Maker
In her newly founded workshop, Marlen Tröger, a master wooden toy maker and designer, has dedicated herself entirely to the traditional production of wooden objects, especially for Christmas decoration, in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) region. In doing so, she finds new ways in the design of this centuries-old rich tradition, which is usually passed down within families. Marlen Tröger is one of the few manufacturers of Christmas wooden decoration who has learned in the center of the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) wooden toy production, the famous Christmas village Seiffen, and who has additionally completed a study in wood design. She combines the roles of craftswoman and designer in one person, as well as the fascination for traditional Erzgebirge wood design and new processing techniques and product developments.
- Name of Craft in the local language
- Holzspielzeugmacherin
- Type of Craft
- Manufacturing and repair of decorative objects made of wood
- Knowledge Holder
- Marlen Tröger
- Location, Website
- Hauptstraße 64, Limbach-Oberfrohna OT Kändler, Germany Link to website
- Contact
- marlen@holzkunst-handwerk.de
- Type of Business
- Newly founded company
- Year of Establishment
- 2012
- Successors
- No successors
- Workshop and sales space
- Approx. 40m² workshop, 60m² sales area, several small storage rooms, a small office room
- Materials
- Wood from local cultivation, paper, metal, varnishes, colors, glue
- Technology / Tools / Machines
- Lathe, CNC milling machine, pillar drilling machine, grinding wheel, files, iron, gauges, clamps, tweezers for picking up small parts, self-made machines and tools for machining wood and coloring small parts
- Techniques / Processes
- Sawing, turning, filing, sanding, drilling, gluing, coloring, painting
- Members / Employees
- Marlen Tröger, assistant for sales
- Apprentices
- No apprentices
- Education of the Craftsperson
- Training as a wooden toy maker and ivory carver in Seiffen/Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), Master training as a wooden toy maker, Study of Wood Design at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg.
- Best-selling product
- Hand crib (Hand Nativity Set)
- Average time of production
- Two days
- Average price per item
- €60-€80
Marlen Tröger is one of the few manufacturers of Christmas wooden decoration who has learned in the center of the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) wooden toy production, the famous Christmas village Seiffen, and who has additionally completed a study in wood design. She combines the roles of craftswoman and designer in one person, as well as the fascination for traditional Erzgebirge wood design and new processing techniques and product developments.
After her studies she moved to a small town near Chemnitz, Limbach-Oberfrohna. The workshop, the storage room, and the sales room are located in the ground floor of a single-family house on the Main Street in the village. This makes it one of the few workshops of Christmas wooden decoration outside the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). Every corner of the rooms is used for the handcrafted production of the countless tiny parts, the storage of the necessary raw materials and the display of the detailed, cute wooden decorations.
The best-selling product is the hand crib. This (Christmas) decorative object consists of a hollowed-out ball with a star-shaped bore, in whose protective cavity the figures of the Christian Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, are embedded. The object is called a hand crib because its spherical shape make it very pleasant to hold in the hands. In addition, Marlen Tröger manufactures a year-round usable plate with five depressions for seasonal decorations, in the center of which small enchantingly detailed seasonal scenes can be attached.
