Renate Müller

Renate Müller (born 24 October 1945) is a German designer and producer of children's toys from Sonneberg, Thuringia.

Early life

Renate Müller is the daughter of Hildegard and Emil Lindemann. Her interest in toy production ran in the family. Employed at H. Josef Leven's company, her grandfather had worked on the development and production of toys based on progressive educational views. Müller's parents ran a workshop for pedagogically interesting items. From 1964 to 1967, Renate Müller studied design at the Sonneberg College for Applied Arts with Helene Haeusler (1904-1987).

In an interview she said the following about her teacher: “She was influenced by Bauhaus, simple designs and natural materials were her ideal. Already at the end of the 1950s, she brought her students sugar sacks, out of which the first the jute animals stuffed with wood wool were created. In Sonneberg, where everything revolved around plush toys, this material was a provocation. When I started my studies in 1964, it immediately appealed to me.”

Career

In 1967, Müller joined her parents' toy factory. They were first presented to the public at the Leipzig Trade Fair in spring 1967, and multiple doctors attending the fair remarked that the toys could be of use in children's psychiatry and orthopedics. According to Müller, “their contrasting materials, jute – leather, coarse – smooth, warm – cool, were an invitation to touch and ‘grasp’. Their wooden frameworks made them so stable that injuries were impossible.” and older animals can be sent back to be repaired. In 2017, a large-scale carpet designed by Renate Müller was exhibited at the Venice Biennale. In 2018, the Kunsthall Stravanger presented a retrospective exhibition of her work titled "Renate Müller: 50 Years of Toys and Design."

Publications and Links

Renate Müller: Toys + Design, R & Company & Whitehaus Media, 2011.

Renate Müller's Website