The name: Woodcarving DE HOLLANDGANGER

In 1804, my ancestor Gerhard Schlingmann, the forefather of my mother Janna Schlingmann, left Osnabrück in Germany to emigrate to the village of Linschoten. He was among the many other “Hollandgangers” – migrants who left their homelands in Germany for Holland in the hope of escaping poverty. Gerhard was a woodworker by trade, and in Linschoten he became a successful clog maker and woodcarver.

The art and craft: WOODCARVING 

I learned the art of woodcarving and mastered this craft through countless hours of practice and by following good courses. My passion for woodcarving was inspired to a great extent by the courses I followed that were given by the Flemish woodcarver Kris Waelput. As my personal preference is relief carving, I intensified my specialist knowledge by following coarses at the Woodcarving School in Austria.