Handmade from Mecklenburg

A region that attracts creative people and craftsmen: Many manufactories have settled in rural Mecklenburg, producing homemade products of high quality and creating small works of art. And the businesses on the so-called "ManufakTour" in Mecklenburg-Schwerin even open their workshops to guests.

Table of contents
1. Art space Testorf
2. Hans-Hilmar Koch Letterpress Museum
3. Kay Gundlack shoe manufactory
4. Ramona Stelzer Design
5. Manufactory Basthorst

It doesn't get any better than this: In Mecklenburg-Schwerin, traditional craftsmanship meets sustainability and contemporary design in many small workshops. The ManufakTour has a total of 20 stops, a route with interesting businesses where you can drop in, buy products - and in some cases get creative yourself at DIY courses. We present five of the stops here:

The flying objects by paper artist Anke Meixner seem to float through the room. They hang from the ceiling on thin threads and seem quite light as a feather. In her gallery and paper workshop in Testorf near Zarrentin am Schaalsee, Meixner shows filigree sculptures made of wood, cellulose or flax. Anke Meixner studied play and learning design. What fascinates her about paper as a material is its versatility - it can be folded, shaped, written on, painted and used to make collages. In order to be able to experiment better, Meixner has also acquired a paper mill - in courses, the graduate designer now passes on her knowledge of papermaking. Since her childhood, Anke Meixner has lived in Mecklenburg with minor interruptions. Guests are welcome to her art room in Testorf by appointment. In addition to her own works and photos by her husband, the art historian and photographer Ulrich Rudolph, exhibitions by other artists can be seen in Testorf from time to time.

How to get to Testorf by train and bus: Plan arrival.

Letterpress printing to touch and participate in: Krakow am See is home to the only museum of letterpress printing in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Hans-Hilmar Koch's show workshop takes guests back to the early 20th century. They experience at first hand how printing used to be done with movable type. Koch, a letterpress printer and typesetter, has fulfilled a dream here in the Old School: "Letterpress printing with movable type is the most important cultural achievement of mankind! I would like to pass on the knowledge about it in the digital age as well. Because the sensual handling of paper, color and forms, writing and words is being lost more and more today." Tip: Hans-Hilmar Koch produces commissioned prints, family or business stationery, as well as calendars and printed napkins. In workshops, children and adults can also try out papermaking, hot metal typesetting, letterpress printing and bookbinding.

How to get to Krakow am See by train and bus: Plan arrival.

Word of the quality of his shoes has long since spread - even to the ends of the earth. Many celebrities order from Kay Gundlack, and sometimes the shoemaker and trained orthopedic shoe technician even flies to a customer to take measurements. In the specialist workshop in Parchim on the Elde River, visitors can look over the master's shoulder in his glass shoe manufactory and experience how high-quality custom shoes are made. Kay Gundlack uses only the finest leathers, because for him, feet are "often disregarded miracles of nature," as he puts it. Under no circumstances should they be put into bad footwear. By the way, it takes about 30 hours from the idea to the finished pair of custom shoes.

This is how you get to Parchim an der Elde by train: Plan arrival.

Earrings with stingray leather or a bracelet made of salmon leather? Is there such a thing? There is, and it even looks pretty cool: Jewelry designer Ramona Stelzer manufactures in the Hanseatic City of Wismar from fish skins, which are no longer needed in the food industry, maritime jewelry. The skins are tanned and thus made durable, but retain their noble scale structure. "Each fish has its own character," the graduate designer tells us. "I very much enjoy working with stingray leather, for example: the stingray carries fine horn beads on its skin, which when sanded and polished develop a noble sheen. From this I make rings, ear studs or chain pendants in silver." In addition to her jewelry made of fish leather, the trained goldsmith and graduate designer also sells bags, belts and purses here.

How to get to Wismar by train: Plan arrival.

Claudia Stark's elegant, translucent fabrics are created using a very special technique: fine merino wool is woven into fine chiffon silk using a manual rolling technique. The fashion designer's unique pieces are complemented with pearls from the seabed and lace from Florence. Her scarves, hats, cuffs and home accessories quote the abundance of flowers and the play of light in the nature surrounding them. In Basthorst, which lies east of Schwerin on Lake Glambeck, fashion designer Claudia Stark also opens her manufactory to visitors. In her workshop, Stark also offers courses where guests can learn the craft of felting. Using colorful merino wool, the course participants then also create a small work of art themselves. By the way, Claudia Stark is not the only artist in Basthorst - the creativity of the locals meets guests from all over the world there. There is now an art house, an art boarding house, a gallery, a crayfish garden with noble crayfish and water plants, a castle hotel and the Basthorst manufactory.

How to get to Basthorst by train and bus: Plan arrival.

Cover photo: Claudia Stark also passes on her knowledge in courses © Matthias Berger