01 The story
From Sketch to Table
Pax uses a reduced design language with changing material thicknesses, sweeping lines and a taut silhouette. The result is clear and modern, but with a softly expressive sense of movement.
02 The details
The Details
A reduced modern form with changing thicknesses, sweeping lines and a dynamic silhouette.
Heinrich Meldau
Heinrich Meldau’s work for Robbe & Berking begins not with a commission, but with an idea. Both Topos and Pax were conceived independently by the German designer, developed through wooden models and detailed drawings before being presented to the Flensburg silversmith. Topos entered production in 1991; Pax followed in 2002. The two collections reveal different expressions of the same disciplined approach to the table. Topos is the more architectural of the pair. Its straightforward geometry and cool visual clarity recall the functional principles of the Bauhaus, reducing the individual pieces to strong, legible forms. There is little distraction between handle and utensil; instead, proportion and silhouette establish the identity of the collection. The result is cutlery with a distinctly modern presence that remains remarkably resistant to changing fashion. With Pax, the language becomes softer and more dynamic. Different material thicknesses, sweeping lines and a carefully tensioned profile give the pieces greater movement, while preserving the clarity that characterises Meldau’s work. The simplicity is deliberate rather than austere: subtle changes in volume and contour bring lightness and elegance to the table. Seen together, Topos and Pax offer two perspectives on modern cutlery design. One is defined by geometric calm, the other by movement and changing profile — yet both demonstrate how much character can be created when ornament gives way to proportion, material and the precise shaping of an everyday object.
Drawn independently, shaped first by hand, and refined until the form could speak for itself.
Heinrich Meldau
Questions about Robbe & Berking Pax — 30 Pieces
Which chef chose Pax for a restaurant where the wine begins in the family vineyard?
At Becker’s in Trier, Pax sits on the table of chef Wolfgang Becker, whose world extends far beyond the kitchen. Becker is also a trained winegrower, while Christine Becker is both sommelier and winegrower, and the family produces its own wines. Their restaurant brings cuisine, architecture and wine together in one remarkably coherent experience — a setting in which Pax feels entirely at home.
What does a chef mean when he reduces a menu to the essentials?
At Becker’s, simplicity is not the absence of ambition. Wolfgang Becker’s menus are described as being reduced to the essentials, reflecting the same modern and understated elegance found in the architecture of the restaurant. Pax follows a similar logic: its character comes from proportion, profile and changing material thickness rather than applied ornament.
Why does this Pax set become more interesting when dinner turns into dessert?
The 30-piece set extends six complete place settings with six cake forks, allowing Pax to remain part of the table when the main course gives way to dessert, cake and coffee. Those smaller pieces preserve the same sculptural design language at a more delicate scale, so the final part of the meal feels connected rather than visually separate.
Can the smallest fork reveal the biggest idea behind Pax?
It can reveal it surprisingly clearly. On the cake fork, there is less material and less visual weight, making the relationship between line, thickness and proportion particularly easy to see. Pax does not need decoration to create identity — even one of its smallest pieces carries the same three-dimensional thinking as the larger dinner cutlery.
What connects a vineyard, a minimalist dining room and a piece of cutlery?
A belief in removing what is unnecessary. At Becker’s, the cuisine is reduced to its essentials, the architecture follows a language of modern simplicity, and the wine comes directly from the family’s own relationship with the land. Pax belongs naturally in that composition: restrained at first glance, but increasingly sophisticated the closer it is examined.