The workshop on the farm
Wepfer and Kyburz
I met Hans Wepfer at an exhibition in my home town of Andelfingen in autumn 93. Hans was a trained farmer. But he actually preferred to be an agricultural machinery mechanic and fiddled around with many ingenious constructions. He rebuilt his hay loader wagon, repaired tractors and developed his own front mower, which he produced and sold in small series. We got on very well and discussed a lot about possible projects. His farm was very large by Swiss standards. Besides farming, he had taken over dairy farming with about 20 cows from his father. Hans did not like this work at all, as he had to go to the barn every day in the morning and evening to look after his cattle. So he persuaded his parents to stop dairy farming and to produce "plastic cows" instead of milk in the future. The work was supposed to suit him much more. Reluctantly, his parents accepted Hans' decision and the cows were sold with a heavy heart and tears. I have to clarify at this point: I had no particular attachment to the cows. My heart was accordingly not as heavy as that of Hans' wife Anne and his parents.
We began to clear out the barn, clean it thoroughly, nail plasterboard to the wall, install doors, wire lighting circuits and build tables, in short: we built ourselves a workshop. At the same time, Anne Wepfer helped us to found the collective company "Wepfer und Kyburz". I remember smelling intensely of cowsheds every evening, so that when I got home I undressed stark naked before I even got out the door, threw my clothes into the washing machine and took a hot shower until my skin turned a dark red colour from the ultra-hot water. Nevertheless, after this intensive cleaning attempt, I still had the cow smell in my nose. Until now, I had been neutral towards cows: I left them alone and they left me alone. Now, however, my opinion solidified: I don't like cows!
The workshop made progress and we started building our first series of experiments. Conveniently, Hans also had a welding machine, so we could make all the steel parts and the plastic casing ourselves.
I learned:
- I don't like cows
- Success inspires and a clear project in front of one's eyes gives a clear objective.
- Before work can begin, the workshop must first be built.
