Karl Hagenauer

His oldest son, Karl, who would eventually assume leadership of the family business, enrolled at the Vienna School of Applied Arts at age eleven.

There he studied with Josef Hoffmann and Oskar Strnad[3] and created designs for the Wiener Werkstätte art collective.

His stylized animals and whimsical creatures handcrafted in brass had broad appeal in domestic and American markets.

[12] Hagenauer's work found an avid American market partly through the efforts of New York gallery owner Rena Rosenthal, who featured the Josephine Baker sculpture in a 1935 window display.

[13] Rosenthal's patronage was critical to the post-war success of the Werkstätte Hagenauer; the hostilities caused a delay of several years in her payment for a last container of products shipped in 1938 and the subsequent change in exchange rate was very advantageous to the Austrian craftsman, supporting rebuilding efforts.