Fraureuth porcelain factory
The Fraureuth porcelain factory in Fraureuth was a manufacturer of utility and decorative porcelain. It produced from 1866 until it went bankrupt in 1926.
In 1914 the company had around 1500 employees, making it one of the largest porcelain factories in the German Empire .
Company founded in 1866
In 1866 Georg Bruno Foedisch and Arved von Römer founded the porcelain manufactory Römer & Foedisch in a wool combing factory in Fraureuth . The number of employees was 60 in 1867. Two round furnaces are in operation. In addition to the existing company health and funeral fund, a factory savings bank was founded in 1877 to provide security for the workers.
In 1879, 444 people worked in the factory. The porcelain "Cobalt blue with gold" won the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Sydney and first place in Leipzig. In 1880, 494 workers were employed. Accident insurance is introduced. In 1881 the products were awarded a gold medal in Brazil. In 1882 the number of workers rose to 544. In 1883 the company received a silver medal for its products in Amsterdam.
The company founder Bruno Foedisch died in 1885 at the age of 45. 600 people worked in the china factory. In 1888 the products were awarded the first prize at the German arts and crafts exhibition in Munich. From 1888 to 1892 Max Ludloff was director of the porcelain factory.
In 1891 the porcelain factory Römer & Foedisch was converted into the porcelain factory Fraureuth AG . In 1891 the products were awarded a silver medal in Dresden. In 1892 a loss was recorded on the balance sheets for the first time. Investments are made in new shapes of dishes. In 1895 the profit could be increased again considerably. In 1896 the porcelain factory was one of the largest in Germany with a factory site of 8.5 hectares, 9 round ovens with 60 m³ each, 18 muffle ovens and 200 porcelain painters.
In 1899 the old brand (Latin F in a circle) was replaced by the mirror monogram "PF" in a circle under the prince's hat. In 1906 the company received a gold award at the art and trade exhibition in Zwickau. Due to the ongoing price pressure, increasingly inferior porcelain and plagiarism were produced in the Thuringian area in 1909. The reputation of Thuringian porcelain is suffering. In 1910 Fraureuth AG exported to France, England, America, Australia, China, South Africa and East India. 450 workers are still employed. In 1914 a contract was signed with the National Foundation for the survivors of those killed in the war . In 1915 the art department was founded. In 1916 Fraureuth AG made the highest profit.
The range of products was extensive. The company survived the economic difficulties of the time unscathed. The period during and after the First World War brought the heyday of the company's history for Fraureuth AG. In 1917 a porcelain painting was set up in Dresden. Here porcelain is decorated with flowers, Watteau and gold paintings. In addition, red, yellow and cobalt fond and enamel painting were applied there. In Lichte (Wallendorf, Obere Str.), A company's own porcelain painting facility is set up, in which gallery copies are transferred onto porcelain. The building burns down in 1915 and the painting is dissolved. The employees, highly specialized porcelain painters, move to Fraureuth or stay in Lichte and switch to Wallendorfer Porzellanmanufaktur or Lichte Porzellan .
Rise and increasing demand
Fraureuth AG reacted to the increasing post-war demand for figurative porcelain and decorative items in 1919 with the acquisition of the traditional porcelain manufacturer Wallendorfer Porzellan in Lichte, which was founded in 1764 and which was dissolved in 1915 as Kampf & Heubach AG . The company's own art department is set up in Lichte.
A branch of Fraureuth AG was founded in Gräfenthal in 1920 . In 1921, electric table lamps and perfume vaporizers were added to the range. Porcelain painting in Dresden is expanded.
The company employed a total of around 1200 workers and 300 civil servants.
Decline until 1934
Production in Fraureuth was expanded in 1923. However, the new tunnel kilns are not fully developed and mainly produce rejects. Ultimately, the high investments in a future-oriented, but not yet fully developed technology of porcelain production and the resulting high production losses were responsible for the fact that the company was doomed within a few years. In 1924 the balance sheet showed a loss of 1.55 million Reichsmarks. In 1925 the model warehouse in Berlin was seized due to tax debts. The company's history ended when it went bankrupt on July 15, 1926, and it was deleted from the commercial register on October 9, 1934. In 1927 the “Fraureuther Porzellanfabrik Aktiengesellschaft” was re-established, but production was never started. Although various porcelain factories advertised with additions such as “Fraureuth” or “Model Fraureuth” until the 1950s, the Fraureuth porcelain factory fell into oblivion in the following decades.
Today Spindel- undlagerstechnik Fraureuth GmbH, an international manufacturer of rolling bearings, is located on the company premises of the former porcelain factory .
Corporate structure
| Porcelain factory in Fraureuth | 1866-1926 |
| Porcelain painting in Lichte (Wallendorf) | 1917-1926 |
| Porcelain painting in Dresden | 1917-1926 |
| Art department in Lichte (Wallendorf) | 1919-1926 |
In the porcelain painting department in Dresden , crockery was decorated by hand from around 1917. The popular Old Meissner and Old Viennese flowers, Watteau paintings as well as landscapes and animal motifs were applied here. In addition, gold and enamel relief painting was carried out on ornamental objects such as boxes or vases.
In porcelain painting in Lichte ( Thuringia ), vases, boxes and porcelain plates were decorated with gallery copies from 1917 onwards. Highly qualified porcelain painters were available for this from the local porcelain manufacturers.
museum
The museum for Fraureuther porcelain is located in the manor house of the former porcelain factory in Fraureuth. You can usually visit the exhibition every Sunday. Today it houses u. a. an important collection of products from the Fraureuth porcelain factory. In addition, the "Glowatzki room", the building authority of the Fraureuth community and the local history association are housed here.
Another noteworthy exhibition on Fraureuther porcelain is located in the Werdau City and Steam Engine Museum .
literature
- Susanne Fraas: "Kissed awake". Hidden treasures of the Fraureuther porcelain factory. Exhibition in the German Porcelain Museum, Hohenberg from May 23, 2003 to November 16, 2003 (= publications and catalogs of the German Porcelain Museum , Volume 82), German Porcelain Museum , Hohenberg / Eger 2003, ISBN 3-927793-81-7 .
Web links
- private collector's site
- Website of the Förderverein Fraureuther Porzellan eV
- Page of the Zwickauer Land district media office on Fraureuther porcelain
Coordinates: 50 ° 42 ′ 13.5 ″ N , 12 ° 21 ′ 13.5 ″ E
Individual evidence
- ^ Website of the Fraureuth community, accessed on March 3, 2014
- ↑ Business activity . 1892 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2018]).