Siblings write craft history

Sisters Athena and Janina Ebermann have jointly achieved their master craftsman's certificate in the plastering trade. This is a first in the 126-year history of the Koblenz Chamber of Skilled Crafts (HwK).

This article is part of the special topic women in crafts

This has happened in the 126-year history of the Chamber of Crafts (HwK) Koblenz Not yet given: two sisters are completing the master craftsman preparation course together in Plastering trade all the way to the master craftsman's examination. Athena and Janina Ebermann passed both in separate "sessions," one after the other. They even used their own mother as their "apprentice"...

Athena (26) and Janina (24) Ebermann From Koblenz, they learned the plastering trade in the family business after completing their vocational high school diploma. Now they faced the final part of the exam at the Path to Master Craftsman's Certificate – and that in the 70th year since the family business was founded weight based in Koblenz.

They had to demonstrate both technical and pedagogical knowledge, as the final assessment focused on their skills in training an apprentice. "We had approached two young people from our company, but both had to drop out at the last minute." The alternative: their mother, Elke, had to step in. This proved to be quite a challenge, as the two daughters had to adjust their roles, and from the start of the exam, their mother was no longer their mother, but apprentice Elke.

Elke Ebermann spontaneously changed roles: from office manager and mother to apprentice

And also Elke Ebermann, who normally works in the office of the family business, had to change her role and firmly resolve "not to mother her, but to seriously look at the tasks at hand through the eyes of the trainee."

After two 30-minute exam periods, it was finally over, and all three Ebermann women looked visibly proud at the result: they had passed! "It was wonderful to have been a part of it, and nobody can take that away from me," revealed Elke, framed by her two daughters and their little master craftsman certificates, which they received immediately after the exam evaluation.

The daughters had free choice of profession

"Our grandfather is watching very closely from above what's happening here," Athena said, including the company founder in the day's masterful events. Grandfather Johannes, who passed away in 1997, started his own business in 1956 and handed it over to his son in 1995. Gerrit Ebermann, who has been volunteering at the Chamber of Skilled Crafts for years.

His daughters had the freedom to choose their professions, "and our father wasn't all that enthusiastic when we decided together on a Internship followed by training "They applied to him. That's long since changed," say the two sisters, who are usually in lockstep. Because the Ebermann women aren't just alike professionally. "If you ask us the same questions separately, the answers are almost always identical."

It is therefore not surprising that the path to becoming a master craftsman is also to be continued in harmony. "Together we want to take over family business with its 13 employees – Step by step and side by side." Grandpa Johannes, the two agree, would be especially proud, because his work would then not only be going into good hands, but also into the third generation.  

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