Handcrafted globes in Markranstädt: How millimeter precision preserves a 100-year tradition
At Räthgloben in Markranstädt near Leipzig, Claudia glues paper gores onto spheres millimeter by millimeter, a tradition that has endured since 1917.
A delicate craft
In a workshop in Markranstädt west of Leipzig, Claudia, 40, stands at a trestle, nudging a paper Russia by millimeters. She is a Kaschiererin, gluing twelve printed elliptical paper strips, or gores, onto plastic or glass spheres to make world globes. The glue-soaked paper tears easily, and even a tiny misalignment causes thick vertical stripes or swallows letters of country names. After each globe is assembled, she places it on a lamp and checks every seam against the backlight; a hairline gap shows up as a bright line and means the globe is rejected.
One needs a good eye and a steady hand.
It's a very delicate matter. One has to work a lot with pressure points.
A tradition since 1917
Räthgloben traces its origins to Leipzig in 1917, when Paul Räth began making educational display cases. By the 1920s he had shifted to globe production, and the firm is credited with the first commercial illuminated globe. The business survived World War II, the division of Germany, and nationalization under the GDR. Today, as Räthgloben 1917 Verlag, it is led by publishing director Thomas Härtel, 52, who believes physical globes still hold their own against digital maps.
The Globe Museum in Vienna
The Austrian National Library's Globe Museum in Vienna calls itself the only museum of its kind worldwide. Its collection of about 820 objects includes 50 from Räthgloben, according to library spokeswoman Elke Koch. A 1925 illuminated globe from the Leipzig workshop is on permanent display, and four more Räth illuminated globes are in the study collection. The museum's Räthgloben holdings comprise 42 terrestrial globes, six celestial globes, and two lunar globes.
A niche that survives
Demand for handcrafted globes persists despite Google Maps and satellite navigation, Härtel says. Schools, decorators, and private collectors still want a three-dimensional model of the Earth. The craft of Kaschieren has changed little in a century, and Räthgloben plans to keep it alive.
