Of glowing bottles and bent copper pipes

Franziska Dörner

A young woman from Chemnitz has been selling shelves made from copper pipes, lamps made from bottles, cans and clocks on Theaterstraße for a few weeks now. CoBo Lights is the name of Franziska Dörner's project, which conjures up new things from old ones. Co - that's the first letters of the Leipzig district of Connewitz - and Bo is the beginning of the English word "bottles", because it all started with the bottle lamps in Connewitz. Shop owner and KRACH award winner Franziska Dörner talks about her business idea and what it's like to have your own shop at the age of 23.

How did you come up with the idea of making lamps from discarded items?
Franziska Dörner: We moved to Leipzig at the time. It was about furnishing the flat and I realised that lamps are quite expensive. But I wanted to have something individual. So I started building my own lamps. Then friends and acquaintances approached me and also wanted such lamps for their birthdays. So I thought that maybe I could earn money with them. Especially the bottles: I used to work in service and constantly had empty but still beautiful bottles in front of me and based on the premise that you reuse old things, I made lamps out of the bottles.

Are you a particularly skilful craftsman?
My lamps actually all work in the same way: an E27 socket, cable, plug and a switch. Only the fittings are always slightly different. You can actually do it all very well yourself. Of course, you have to be particularly thorough with some things. But I also work with electricians and my friend studied mechanical engineering and is doing further training to get a small electrician's licence.
But I would also like to show others that it's not that difficult to make new pieces of jewellery from old things. We have our next workshop on 25 October. The materials will be provided for a participation fee and you will end up with a customised lamp that you have made yourself.

You can register for the workshop by emailinginfo(at)cobolights.de or on the websitewww.cobolights.de.

Where do you find your materials?
I got old bottles from my relatives' coal cellar, for example. Copper pipes are actually a bit harder to come by, as the price of metal is so high at the moment, it's not so easy to get hold of them. Otherwise, a lot comes from flea markets or a friend who does company clear-outs. But people can also come to me with their own materials, which is how the shelf was made from copper pipes, for example.

The first week with your first shop is over. What are your impressions?
A few people have already come in, many are interested and look through the shop window. We've even managed to sell several lamps. One of them went to two older people who I wouldn't have recognised as customers. I advised them and they were immediately enthusiastic and bought a lamp.

How did you find out about the KRACH project and to what extent did it help you?
I found out about the information event via Facebook. I attended it with my friend and afterwards we thought, that's cool, it would be perfect for us. Then we applied with a business plan. There was an applicant check, a preliminary decision, a tour of the possible premises and then the finalists were chosen at the Maker Faire. There were over 50 applicants in total.

And what made you stand out?
I think we were selected because we've been doing this for three years. There were a lot of good ideas, but they were often just ideas and nothing concrete. We had already gained experience and our concept seemed to be convincing.

In April of this year, eleven projects from the cultural and creative sector were awarded a funding prize in the "KRACH - Kreativraum Chemnitz" programme. In addition to a start-up budget of 2,500 euros for the business idea, the award winners received personalised and free advice from experts and networks, as well as reimbursement of the room rent for up to three years. Eleven premises, spread across the city, were available. All KRACH prizewinners were able to view the potential shops in advance and draw up a preference list. In addition to a space on Brühl, Franziska also fancied her current location at Theaterstraße 17: "We are now in a former driving school. We still had a few things to do, but now the shop has flair. The most important thing is that I have enough space in the back for my workshop."

Would you have dared to do this with the shop and the CoBo Lights concept without KRACH?
No. I actually said to myself shortly beforehand, ok, now you've finally found a good degree programme. I'm studying Prevention, Rehabilitation and Fitness Sports at Chemnitz University of Technology, which is the third degree programme I've started. And it's a really cool degree programme that I like. I wanted to finish it first and then see what it looks like in terms of jobs. But now I'm doing both at the same time and have to see how it all goes. But it's an incredibly cool opportunity to try things out.

What is planned for the future of the shop?
We are currently putting together do-it-yourself sets, for example for the coffee maker and the copper tube lamps. The prefabricated parts are then sent home with video instructions. So everyone can build their own unique piece.
And as far as the shop is concerned, you have to see whether the concept makes it worth having a shop at all or whether online is enough. After three years, I'll have to see if it's what I want to do. You really have to decide everything yourself and look after the shop around the clock. I'm curious, nobody can tell me whether it's right or not. I'm just going to try it out and the KRACH programme is the best opportunity I've ever had.

Chemnitz is applying to be European Capital of Culture 2025. What would you like to see in the city by then?
Chemnitz should create even more space for creative people from Chemnitz, but also beyond the city limits. People need to finally recognise Chemnitz as a cool city, but a lot needs to happen for that to happen. For example, it would be nice to walk through the city and find everything cheerful and lively. That people are still out and about in the evenings and chatting. You could achieve this by not only establishing large chains, but also small cafés and shops.