Hingelberg Closes its Doors.
The Hingelberg shop finally closed its doors on September 25th, of this year, after a 117 year run.
It was founded in 1897 by Franz Hingelberg, while he was at the age of 26. Trained as a goldsmith, he was able to secure a much desired location at Lion Pharmacy building on Main Square 5 in Aarhus where his earliest customers included many churches, for which he designed a variety of fine silver pieces. Post WWI, however, Spanish flu spread throughout Europe and evenutally to Aarhus where he passed away in 1919. Afterwards, his wife managed the company until 1924, when his son, William Hingelburg took over.
In 1928, he hired Svend Weihrauch, whose emphasis on modernism and organic forms as well as modern manufacturing techniques, pushed the company further upward. Weihrauch's designs had made their way to many exhibition, including the World's Exhibition in Brussels (1935), Paris (1937), where he won a gold medal, and New York (1939). His works still reside in various museums and private art collections worldwide.
In 1943, the company's success propelled them to look for a larger factory space, which they purchased on the corner of Aboulevarden and School Street. At its post war peak, the shop was home to 50 journeymen.
Although he had attachments to the old building, the storefront was moved in 1959 to a more modern building and the layout was designed by Mogens Korch, and had rosewood shelves to display the silver. In 1966, William Hingelberg had passed away, leaving his son, Jorn Hingelberg to take over. By the late 60's, silver began to fall out of fashion, and Jorn had decided to take the business in the direction of designing diamond jewelry, following the changes in taste. This lasted until 1086, when the business was sold to Torben Andkjaer and Peter Aaquist former jewelers for Georg Jensen, and focused on producing individual pieces for their clientele. With the closing of the shop, unfortunately no new pieces are being created, and, sadly, it has been several years since Svend Weihrauch's designs have been produced.
Aarhus residents, however, can take comfort that the their own Museum, Den Gamle By (the Old Town, an open air museum which collects both buildings and artifacts from Danish history), has recently acquired a significant donation of over 950 pieces of silver, including many pieces from designers such as Mogens Ballin, Bindesboll, Kaj Bojesen, Karl Gustav Hansen, Henning Koppel, Evald Nielsen, and of course, Georg Jensen, and of course, Svend Weihrauch's designs for Hingelberg , allowing them to view an important part of their own city's importance to the history of Danish craftsmanship.
Sources:
http://www.aarhusportalen.dk/nyheder.asp?AjrDcmntId=37352
and to visit Den Gamle By's website, click HERE