Porcelain Manufactory Ottweiler

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The Fürstlich Nassau-Saarbrückische Porzellanmanufaktur Ottweiler was a porcelain manufactory in Ottweiler that was founded in 1763 and existed until 1800.

history

Under the reign of the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken , a porcelain factory was founded in Ottweiler. Back then, porcelain was considered a prestige object that every prince had to have. Most respected was when a prince had his own porcelain factory. Porcelain from the company's own factory was also used for diplomatic gifts. In 1763 the first factory was built by Prince Wilhelm Heinrich (Nassau-Saarbrücken) . The porcelain produced there was characterized by a particularly clean white body, due to the relatively expensive " Passau earth " (kaolin) used.

After Prince Wilhelm Heinrich died in 1768, the company was reorganized under the government of his son Prince Ludwig (Nassau-Saarbrücken) . As part of savings measures, the use of Passau earth was dispensed with in the future and cheaper, local earth was used, which was reflected in the new cream-colored appearance of the products. From 1769 the manufacture was run by frequently changing tenants. In 1776, the production of cheaper earthenware began , which suffered from the artistic level. With the outbreak of the French Revolution and the subsequent years of political and economic turmoil, the factory finally ceased operations in 1800 and the buildings were sold. As a result of the Napoleonic wars, much of the Ottweiler porcelain was taken to France as booty .

Due to the relatively short production time of almost 30 years, the products of the Ottweiler Porcelain Manufactory are today among the rarest porcelains in the world that are exhibited in various museums and fetch high prices at auctions. In 2015 only 151 pieces were known worldwide.

literature

  • Karl Lohmeyer: The Princely Nassau-Saarbrückische Porzellanmanufaktur Ottweiler . Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig 1924.
  • Christof Trepesch (Hrsg.): Ottweiler Porzellan = catalog for the exhibition of the same name in the old collection of the Saarland Museum in the historic Witwenpalais Ottweiler on behalf of the Neunkirchen district from May 7th to July 16th, 2000. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 2000. ISBN 3-88462 -169-6 .
  • Jutta Schwan: delicious and precious: 250 years of the Ottweiler porcelain factory . Neunkirchen district 2013. ISBN 978-3-938381-45-8

Movie

  • The white gold of the southwest. Porcelain from the Ottweiler manufactory. Documentary with scenic documentation, Germany, 2015, 43:53 min., Script and director: Maria C. Schmitt, production: Saarländischer Rundfunk , series: Geschichte im Südwesten , first broadcast: September 13, 2015 on SWR, synopsis with online video by SWR.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The white gold of the southwest: porcelain from Ottweiler. In: SWR . September 13, 2015, accessed October 11, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Peter Dittmar: 30,000 marks for a teapot. In: The world . March 16, 2002, accessed October 11, 2015 .