Bust of African woman, Circa 1935

Werkstätte Hagenauer  

Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien is the name of a family business in Vienna, they specialize in the production of handmade decorative objects and are known for their ninety years of know-how. The workshop closed down in 1987, but the premises of the company which opened in 1938 have managed to survive, in the form of a museum and a store.

In 1898, Carl Hagenauer (1872 - 1928), founded what has now become Werkstätte Hagenauze.He began as a trainee at Würbel and Czokally, a silverware producer in Vienna and trained as a silversmith before opening his own studio, as a producer of little figurines and objects. His workshop produced his own designs and the ones of other artists like Josef Hoffmann and Otto Prutscher. Carl Hagenauer's sons, Karl (1898 - 1956) and Franz (1906 - 1986) became well-known and influential designers, especially in Art Deco.

At the age of 11, Karl joined the Applied Arts school in Vienna. After having served in the infantry,he started his training again and became an architect. He joined the family business in 1919 and gradually began to head the company, with its design but also management. His hand-made stylized animals and strange creatures in brass were extremely successful. Some are useful like mirrors, cigar cutters, ashtrays (many in the shape of athletes and animals), chandeliers or corkscrews, but other creations like figurines and bigger sculptures in wood and metal, are purely for decorative purposes. In 1927, he designed the brand, filed by the company.

While Karl was the main designer for objects, his younger brother Franz specialized in sculpture. Franz studied with Karl at the Applied Arts School of Vienna, right since his childhood and joined the family business at the age of 20. He took over the company's direction, after Karl's death in 1956.