REGULARS - IN PROFILE
Klaus Körber:
an ubermaster of his craft
For the past 26 years Klaus Körber has been a master craftsman
in the timber industry. Timber iQ sat down with him to find out the
secret of his continued success in the industry.
By Dineo Phoshoko
Klaus Körber stands next to an automatic saw for manufacturing roof trusses.
A
t the tender age of 17, Körber started out in the
industry doing an apprenticeship over three years.
After the apprenticeship he qualified as a roof
carpenter, an occupation he held for five years before
returning to school to obtain his Master’s degree in roofing
from the Chamber of Handicrafts in Flensburg, Germany. Of
the 26 years he’s been in the industry, Körber has spent half
of those years in Somerset West in Cape Town, South Africa.
SUCCESSFUL ESTABLISHMENTS IN
SOUTH AFRICA
During his time in South Africa, Körber started four successful
businesses in the roofing and construction industry.
Körber came to South Africa on a working holiday to
consult for a local roofing company in 2002. He
immediately fell in love with the country, but was
disappointed with the quality of timber roofing he saw. It
didn’t have the beauty and finesse that he was accustomed
to in Germany, where he held a degree in carpentry and
had 15 years’ experience.
With his personal motto, ‘making it possible,’ he
relocated to South Africa and, in 2007, launched Pitch45
– a company passionate about creating living spaces that
are beautiful, innovative and practical through exposed
timber roofing.
See more on page 50
48 APRIL / MAY 2019 //
www.timberiq.co.za