Cross Oyster Dieter Witte

Known for his sleek, award-winning Space Age lighting, Rolf Krüger was an influential and important contributor to the advancement of German mid-century modern furniture design during the 1960s and 1970s.

Born in Hamburg in 1939, Krüger grew up in the maritime city of Husum, located near the German-Danish border. In 1959, he studied free and applied arts at the Heinrich Zernack School in Berlin before attending the Meisterschule für das Kunsthandwerk (now the Universität der Künste Berlin) from 1960 to 1964. There, he studied product design, painting, photography and commercial graphics and graduated with a diploma in design.

From 1964 to 1982, Krüger worked for several German lighting and furniture design firms, creating metal, glass and concrete products. For manufacturer Staff Leuchten, he designed bubble glass pendants (created with Japanese lighting designer Motoko Ishii), tube decorative wall lamps and the iconic Cross Oyster flush mount ceiling light, which was displayed in the exhibition stand of Mercedes-Benz at the 1970 Geneva International Motor Show. In 1968, Krüger collaborated with German industrial designer Dieter Witte to create a large wall panel version of the Cross Oyster light for Staff Leuchten.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Krüger worked with lighting manufacturer Heinz Neuhaus Leuchten to create several popular pieces like his cubic wall lights and brass tubular desk lamps. For furniture maker Paul Neuhaus Leuchten, Krüger designed his elegant, modernist double wall sconces. 

Throughout his design career, Krüger has received more than 30 awards, including multiple iF Design awards. His lighting pieces are in the collections of the Landesmuseen Schleswig-Holstein, the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, the Design Museum in Munich and the Kunstgewerbemuseum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Rolf Krüger lighting.

The right table lamp, outwardly sculptural chandelier or understated wall pendant can work wonders for your home. While we’re indebted to thinkers like Thomas Edison for critically important advancements in lighting and electricity, we’re still finding new ways to customize illumination to fit our personal spaces all these years later. A wide range of antique and vintage lighting can be found on 1stDibs.

Today, lighting designers like the self-taught Bec Brittain have used the flexible structure of LEDs to craft glamorous solutions by working with what is typically considered a harsh lighting source. By integrating glass and mirrors, reflection can be used to soften the glow from LEDs and warmly welcome light into any space.

Although contemporary innovators continue to impress, some of the classics can’t be beat. 

Just as gazing at the stars allows you to glimpse the universe’s past, vintage chandeliers like those designed by Gino Sarfatti and J. & L. Lobmeyr, for example, put on a similarly stunning show, each with a rich story to tell.

As dazzling as it is, the Arco lamp, on the other hand, prioritizes functionality — it’s wholly mobile, no drilling required. Designed in 1962 by architect-product designers Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the piece takes the traditional form of a streetlamp and creates an elegant, arching floor fixture for at-home use.

There is no shortage of modernist lighting similarly prized by collectors and casual enthusiasts alike — there are Art Deco table lamps created in a universally appreciated style, the Tripod floor lamp by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Greta Magnusson Grossman's sleek and minimalist Grasshopper lamps and, of course, the wealth of mid-century experimental lighting that emerged from Italian artisans at Arredoluce, FLOS and many more are hallmarks in illumination innovation. 

With decades of design evolution behind it, home lighting is no longer just practical. Crystalline shaping by designers like Gabriel Scott turns every lighting apparatus into a luxury accessory. A new installation doesn’t merely showcase a space; carefully chosen ceiling lights, table lamps and floor lamps can create a mood, spotlight a favorite piece or highlight your unique personality.

The sparkle that your space has been missing is waiting for you amid the growing collection of antique, vintage and contemporary lighting for sale on 1stDibs.