Forever Freitag

On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, Bauberger AG treated itself to a brand makeover. Of course, that process also included adapting the trucks and trailers to the new corporate image. In the spirit of sustainability, the old tarps were handed over to Freitag.

The venture that started in 1993 in a small studio in Zurich is a small empire today. The Freitag brothers sell over 300,000 bags and accessories a year and have 160 employees. There have long been shops and resellers worldwide for these hip bags made of truck tarps. The Bauberger bags tailored out of the 700 square meters of tarps were a huge hit in Asia, especially in Thailand. But the biggest fan is Swiss: Lorenz Eberhart, the manager of a clothing store in Bern.

He acquired his first Freitag bag about 20 years ago and has been a passionate collector for the past 10 years. Lorenz calls more than 400 Freitag paraphernalia his own, from bags in all shapes and colors to iphone cases and travel kits through to key chains or soccer balls. So his Twitter handle is more than apt: “@freitag_freak”. He regularly makes his way through all the stores in Switzerland and Germany and communicates with the “F-riends” over Instagram. He acquires lucky finds on insider platforms and goes on trips where he photographs preferably people with Freitag bags. The first place he heads is a Freitag store to see if there are any new products locally.

Lorenz regularly participates in Happenings in the stores that are initiated by fans and sponsored by Freitag. The community gathers there and photographs each other with the current favorite bag, a crucial activity. His favorites at the moment are the Bauberger bags with the comic figures on them. “The fact they were painted by hand makes them all the more valuable,” Lorenz added with a smile. His 30 Bauberger paraphernalia are neatly arranged on their own shelf. But the 34-year-old, who uses about 20 different Freitag bags right now, is facing a move soon. The room he keeps his Freitag treasures in is too small. Good that at least the household insurance has already been increased.