In 2022 The Association for the Establishment of a Hans J. Wegner Design Museum was asked if they were interested in using the surplus funding left over from the now defunct Chas Otzen Foundation to publish a book about craftsmanship in Tønder and Wegner’s connection to it. The Association agreed to this. The publication entitled “Tønder Craftsmanship. Wegner and the Tønder Craftsman Association” has now been published with an article by local historian Ingolf Haase as the main author and with contributing articles by Marianne Wegner and Anne Blond. The book presents the background and origins of the Craftsman Association in Tønder and describes the most important of these crafts one after another.
The publication of the book should be seen as an appreciation of the tradition of local craftsmanship in Tønder where Wegner served his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker and how this later was to have such an important in uence on his design practice.
The craftsmanship of the cabinetmaker can be seen as the basis for all of Wegner’s furniture design. It is dif cult to imagine that he would havebecome one of the greatest chair designers of all time without his solid background as a craftsman.
The book also tells the story of Chas Otzen and the history behind the Chas Otzen Craftsman House in Uldgade 16.
The book can be ordered directly by contacting: anne@museumwegner.dk or it can be purchased at Østergade 4 on Thursdays between 13:00-16:00 from week 2. The price of the book is 50 DKr. plus postage costs.