Celebrating 100 Years of Adjustable Light With The Company That Invented It

Midgard, a German lighting firm founded in 1919 that holds the oldest patent for directional lighting, is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. To mark the company’s centenary, Midgard initiated the exhibition “100 Years of Positionable Light – the origins and relevance of adjustable lighting” (14 January to 24 February 2019) at the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. This month, the show is coming to the Goethe-Institut in New York.

Structured in the form of a timeline, the show starts with Midgard and works its way through the various inventions and manufacturers in the field of adjustable light sources, including a look into the future. Besides numerous original lamps, rare documents such as patents, letters and drawings, as well as short films, provide in-depth insights into the history of positionable lighting. The lamps featured in the exhibition have been newly photographed and compiled in the catalog with accompanying texts.

In addition, the exhibition will serve as the basis for the production of a comprehensive publication written by design journalist Thomas Edelmann and illustrated with a wealth of images from the Midgard and Bauhaus archives.

2019 will also see the re-edition of the TYP 113 “whip lamp” to mark the firm’s centennial. In terms of the materials and manufacturing methods, the lamp is made exactly the same way as it was in the 1920s.

“We haven’t launched the No. 113 until now because it’s the most challenging to produce. It’s an extremely sophisticated piece and contains a lot of special parts that call for meticulous workmanship, as does the finishing (nickel, enamel, Bakelite, porcelain),” said David Einsiedler, CEO of Midgard. “We wanted to gain a bit of production experience before we attempted it.”

100 Years of Adjustable Light will open May 15, and run through May 31.

Photos courtesy of Midgard.

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