Shape designer Karl Clauss Dietel honoured with the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany
Honoured in the Lifetime Achievement category at today's ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Economics in Berlin
Design designer Professor Karl Clauss Dietel will be honoured today, 25 September 2014, with the highest official German award in the field of design. This year's award in the Lifetime Achievement category will be presented at an official ceremony at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin.
Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig congratulates Karl Clauss Dietel, who is the first designer from the GDR to be honoured with an all-German award: "Probably all of us who are at home here in East Germany have come into contact with a product designed by him at least once in our lives. Whether it was the Wartburg, an Erika typewriter, a Heliradio with ball boxes or even a Simson scooter, which can still be seen on our roads today. His products were always designed for long-lasting and functional use. We warmly congratulate him on this award and are delighted that his work is now receiving the high level of public recognition it deserves with an all-German national award."
Karl Clauss Dietel was one of the most important product designers in the GDR. His diploma thesis, with which he completed his studies at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art in 1961, formed the basis for one of his most famous designs, the Wartburg 353. Dietel worked as a designer at the Development and Construction Centre for Vehicle Construction Karl-Marx-Stadt until 1963, after which he worked as a freelancer.
User-friendliness and sustainability were always particularly important to him: a product should be able to be modified by the user through the interchangeability of individual components, adapting to their needs while maintaining its overall function.
Professor Dietel taught at the Halle University of Industrial Design and later at the College of Applied Arts in Schneeberg. Today, Karl Clauss Dietel lives as a freelance designer in Chemnitz.
The Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany has been awarded since 1969 and is presented annually by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. An independent and expert jury with representatives from industry, science, design and the media decides on the award.