Talents
With Attention to Detail
Elke Bauernhofer’s plans are coming together. And that is a good
thing, because she ensures that the spaces at Josef Göbel are
executed exactly as designed.
Elke Bauernhofer’s day is meticulously planned. It has to be, especially as the mother of two
children. There’s breakfast together, then she sends the kids off to school. Once they are
settled, she heads to work. It takes her just over five minutes to get from home to the office. She
works until 1 p.m., then heads back home for lunch with the kids. After that, it is time for taxi
service: football training, tennis, music school, and other activities are on the agenda. Good
thing she is well-suited for planning.
After all, she does it professionally, too, albeit in a slightly different way: As part of the
planning team, she takes care of the technical planning for the bespoke interiors at Josef
Göbel. Unlike in design, where it is all about the "beautiful plans that every client
understands"—as Elke puts it—the technical planning gets down to the nitty-gritty. "We select
the hardware and design the ceiling so it does not fall down," she explains succinctly. Elke and
her colleagues know exactly what they are doing, which is why no ceiling has ever come
crashing down.
every client understands. We select the hardware and design the
ceiling so it doesn’t fall down.”
Nice work
How Life Plays Out
Project planning and Elke just seem to go hand in hand. "I really enjoy it," she says. And she
has to. She has been working in Fladnitz for over 15 years now, partly part-time, partly full-
time. She even gained experience at a small carpentry workshop in the Mürztal. But she
learned her trade at Josef Göbel. Afterward, a colleague recommended that she complete the
master’s course at the Ortweinschule in Graz. She returned to Fladnitz, she had previously
lived in Bruck, for more pragmatic reasons: Her parents lived in the area, and "it didn’t really
matter if I drove up to Mürztal or down to Fladnitz." “I asked Josef if I could come back, and
there was a vacancy in the planning department," Elke recalls. Sometimes, that is just how it
works.
And the company knows exactly what it has in this master carpenter. "It’s a give-and-take,"
she says. "That’s how it should be." Since the pandemic, she has taken advantage of the option
to work from home when, for example, one of the kids is sick. On the other hand, her projects
benefit from the fact that she can always complete them on time, even from a distance. "If it’s
really necessary to meet in person quickly, I’m just five minutes away."
