I was invited to join the Maker Advent in Chemnitz in December 2025.
I worked on the Schwibbogen, last summer I designed these in Lossnitz, but I wanted to add candles. So I did some experimenting in Enschede to make it reliable and safe. No messing around with fire!
But we don’t work (much) in the mines anymore (well, not in the Oremountains). Nor with hammer and pick. We use robots instead. So i used these forms for my new Schwibboge.
I made various designs of Schwibbogen. Dutch, robotics, circular, simple cut out…
When we ran out of precut decoration, creativity got a new chance. Make your own Red Tower.
When also the arches ran out, they blasted off….
It is a tough job not to go with the traditional flow, especially when that can be purchased so easily and comply to how schwibbogen should look: recognizable symbols and pictures, unpainted wood. Tradition on the edge of becoming a cliché mass product? Sit down and do it yourself, become a maker!
That became even more obvious later in Lossnitz. A Led schwibbogen with the traditional theme had to be assembled, this attracted much attention. But it also demanded some basic maker skills: soldering, assembling.
Satisfaction
And this may look very traditional, but the printing is done using Tetrapack cartons for printing, and there is a laser engraving on slate. Don’t be afraid of the old symbols and tradition, but look for openings and possible connections they offer. It was nice to work in the crowded maker place, one working with textile, another with the laser.
Traditional themes are useful to reach out, and from there you can proceed and combine. And also appreciate the old tradition itself deeper.
By the way: the elderly textile-ladies were very, very capable of working with the soldering iron. So precise and with rock steady hands.
All together now: slate tradition (background), robotics, Gluck Auf, modern Led candles (with remote control), and the Xmas angel and Bergman. And lasercutting, I’d almost forget to mention that.
The miners’ parade in Lossnitz
