Barbara Klünder

Klünder was born Barbara Koch on 28 September 1919 in Berlin to Fritz Koch-Gotha [de] and Dora Koch-Stetter, both artists. She grew up in Berlin and Althagen, the latter being known as an 'artists' colony'. She aimed to become an archaeologist and started an apprenticeship as a stenographer at AEG, her plans were however discarded with the start of World War II. In Berlin, she met her future husband, painter and ceramist Arnold Klünder [de], whom she married in 1943. During the war, the family's residence in Berlin was destroyed, forcing them to move to their Althagen summer home permanently. Barbara and Arnold Klünder had a daughter named Susanne Schwandt [de] (néé Klünder) as well as a son named Johann Klünder.^[1][2][3]

Klünder and her husband were self-taught in ceramics.^[4] In 1956, they developed the Fischlandkeramik, a hallmark of the region nowadays.^[5]

She died on 8 April 1988 in Althagen and is buried in the Friedhof Wustrow cemetery.^[6]

• Literature about Barbara Klünder in the MV state bibliography