Walter Maria Kersting (8 July 1889, in Münster – 5 May 1970, in Waging am See) was a German architect and industrial designer.

Career

In 1928, he published the ''Bilderbuch für Kaufleute'', (‘Picture book for business people’) a publicity handbook containing examples of catalogues, posters and packaging designs which had been created by Kersting and his wife in a plain and functional style. From 1927 to 1932 he was Professor of Artistic and Technical Design at the

Kölner Werkschulen The ''Kölner Werkschulen'' (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts), formerly Cologne Art and Craft Schools, was a university in Cologne training artists in visual arts, architecture and design from 1926 to 1971. History Origins The origins ...

. With his students, Kersting designed the

bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...

cabinet for the radio receiver,

Volksempfänger The ''Volksempfänger'' (, "people's receiver") was a range of German radio receivers developed by engineer Otto Griessing at the request of Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda of the Nazi regime. The purpose of the ''Volksempfä ...

model VE 301, which was launched at the 1933

Berlin Radio Show The IFA ( ) or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin, a.k.a. 'Berlin Radio Show') is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1924 and 1939 it was an annual event, but from 1950 it was ...

and which, on account of its striking design and the number of units sold, would become an icon of the Nazi period. After the Second World War, he and his sons set up

Kersting-Modellbauwerkstätten The Kersting-Modellbauwerstätten was a German motor manufacturer in Waging am See, Upper Bavaria. It was established in 1949 by the industrial designer and architect, Walter Maria Kersting and his sons Arno, Gerwald and Rainer. The company was i ...

GmbH, a motor manufacturing company in Waging am See, Upper Bavaria. In 1964 examples of his work were shown at ‘documenta III’, an exhibition of modern German art and design, in Kassel.

References

''The above is a translation based on the article in the German Wikipedia at'' :de:Walter Maria Kersting 1889 births 1970 deaths 20th-century German actresses German industrial designers People from Münster {{Germany-architect-stub