August 18, 2008
Peter Knöbl is an unlikely Mexican name. In fact, Peter was born in Austria. He came to Mexico as a young man, 35 years ago. He married and never left. As he puts it (in Spanish), “I got used to it here. It is tranquil and comfortable.”
Peter now runs a small furniture company with his wife María Cristina and their daughter Gabriella. He makes wonderful hand-crafted furniture and mirrors, with Austrian technique and Mexican style. He uses local wood, and copper crafted in nearby Santa Clara del Cobre.
A taxi driver helped us locate Peter’s workshop, in the countryside near Patzcuaro. We turned down the unmarked gravel road, and found the office of rough-hewn wood that looked like a chalet in the Alps. It was not out of place in Michoacán.
In his orderly office, Peter sat behind a finely crafted desk painted with flowers. After we toured his equally neat workshop, which smelled of freshly-sawed wood, we placed our order for Chiripa. When we finished, we asked if we could catch a bus or taxi back to town. “No es sencillo” (“it isn’t simple”) he said, and cheerfully drove us back to town himself.
On the way to town, Peter talked about the Patzcuaro area and its traditions – including the colorful annual “Day of the Dead” events that draw people from all over the world. On the “Day of the Dead,” local residents spend the night in the cemeteries, communing with their dead parents, family members and ancestors. But, according to Peter, there are so many outside visitors that the real family communion now occurs in the very early hours of the morning, after the tourists have gone back to their hotels.
[Note: At this time mirrors and furniture from Peter Knöbl are not available at Chiripa. We will let you know when the shipment arrives.]
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