MUNICH: Tradition and beauty come hand in hand when I buy my Christmas decoration at XMASDELUXE this year. All pieces are handmade in Germany’s well-known Erzgebirge (Erz Mountains region), which stands for traditional manufacturing, and the design is classical with a twist so it fits perfectly into my apartment during the festive season. You can order online or visit their pop-up store.
Meet the founders Anke Baur and Silke Kluß, who are specialists when it comes to Christmas decoration, and make this year’s Christmas party chic and outstanding.
Bella, Henry, Amba & Gloria… These are pretty outstanding names for your Christmas Family, which you have created and manufactured in the traditional way in the Erzgebirge. How did you come up with the idea of taking traditional manufacturing craftsmanship and mixing it with modern design?
We grew up with the wonderful Christmas tradition from the Erzgebirge and the designs of the good old times. Those objects have been in the family for generations. As we were living and traveling around the world, we realized that we didn’t find what we were looking for – high-quality Christmas decorations with a modern touch and not mass-produced. And so the idea was born to create wonderful handmade products, which are made for generations.
Where would you love to see Bella and Henry for Christmas? Is there any piece of furniture or an interior which you think suits them best?
We see them on top of the fireplace, in the window, in the children’s room… One very good spot for Bella & Henry is the coffee table, with a pine branch next to it, so you wake up and see them in the morning. Or our wonderful handmade calendar fits wonderfully on the staircase.
Have you ever thought of how else a traditional nutcracker can be used?
You mean as a window decoration or in the church or for Hanukkah… It would be beautiful to bring everybody together… We have Amba, Gloria and Freya during the whole year in the house, because they became art objects not only for Christmas.
What are your favorite colors for Christmas?
Red, magenta, green, also metal and orange are fantastic….
Is there any decoration you keep on using every year in combination with your designs?
We position our childhood pyramids and nutcracker next to our designs and it fits wonderful…
How do you celebrate Christmas Eve?
Decorating the Christmas tree with the whole family from Dresden, cooking, eating, laughing together and later the house will be full of friends … and we sing and dance.
