Printing Shop Pese - die Engelswerkstatt

In the very early days of the Christkindlesmarkt, almost every market stall had its own individual-style tinsel angel. The angel as we know it today, which hovers above the entrance gates of the market as a figurehead, was only established in the 1920s.

The story of the Nuremberg "Rauschgoldengel" goes back to an incident that is said to have taken place around 400 years ago.
Melchior Hauser was a doll maker in Nuremberg. His only, beloved and beautiful daughter had just died. One day he was walking through the narrow, dark and snowy streets of Nuremberg, lost in thought about how he could help his wife get over the painful loss of their child. With the image of his daughter in mind, his steps led him to his doll workshop. There he made a little angel in the image of his child. Once he had finished, he placed the little work of art in his sleeping wife's arms. When his wife woke up and saw the angel, she recognized her deceased child in it,
At that time, the doll maker used a sheet of brass about 0.01 to 0.03 mm thick for the angel's robe, which crackled and rustled when worked. Hence the name tinsel angel. In technical jargon, tinsel is actually referred to as flitter gold. The original Nuremberg tinsel angel has a gold pleated skirt with a red apron. Furthermore, this angel has no arms, as at the time of its creation it was not yet customary to give dolls arms. He wears a crown on his head. The body is made of papier-mâché or wood and painted by hand.

Each one is made up of many individual parts - each individual part involves a lot of work and sensitivity. The smaller the angel, the more complex the process. The skirt, apron and the like have to be cut to size by hand, adjusted and strips applied. Then there are the punched parts (punched out by hand, of course), and then the most important part: the folding of the skirt and wings. The hand-painted wooden heads are the only element that is not made in the Pese print shop. They come from the Erzgebirge.

The Pese print shop was founded by Ulrike Friemelt's grandfather and his brother. Her mother, who was actually responsible for the office, started the "Rauschgoldengel" business out of a funny coincidence and then passed it on to her daughter. Since then, a desk in the print shop has been permanently reserved as an angel workbench. Making tinsel angels is not enough to live on, Ulrike is also managing director of the print shop and also works in administration. Nevertheless, there is no question for her whether she wants to continue making the Rauschgoldengel for the next 50 years in exactly the same way - out of passion, but above all out of tradition. Incidentally, the special folding technique for the angels' skirts comes from grandfather Pese and is a closely guarded family secret.