Retsch Arzberg
Retsch Arzberg is a brand of the German porcelain manufacturer Retsch AG Household World based in Arzberg .
Porcelain factory Retsch & Cie.
Retsch & Cie. was founded in 1885 by master bricklayer Bernhardt Retsch (1842–1896), textile manufacturer Gustav Heinrich Müller and liqueur manufacturer Christoph Seifert in Wunsiedel . The company's goal was to exploit the local limestone deposits and build a mineral mill. In the course of 1891 a porcelain factory was built, and the first white goods left the coarse-firing furnace in December. The decoration and glaze were initially carried out in nearby Arzberg. But as early as 1892, the company had its own porcelain painting and a burnout furnace.
Decorative and luxury porcelain was produced. In 1896 a silver medal at the state trade fair in Nuremberg crowned the young company's efforts. At that time it had over 200 employees.
Before the First World War, the factory had seven round kilns. The factory site had been gradually expanded and offered 370 jobs. About 80 percent of the products were exported. a. in the USA. Retsch & Cie. Like other German companies, it suffered from the consequences of the war and the global economic crisis, but was able to maintain operations. In 1940 an objection by the city of Wunsiedel averted the compulsory closure due to non-war production.
Production was switched to tunnel ovens in 1953. Modernization continued until 1958 with drying cabinets, semi-automatic machines for cup and saucer production, a mass mill and a liquid gas system. In 1969 the legal form changed from OHG to KG . For the 100th anniversary in 1991, the porcelain factory employed around 320 people. The product range continued to include coffee, table, tea and mocha services as well as gift items.
Utility porcelain was produced in Wunsiedel until 2005.
Retsch AG Household World
In 2003 the company was taken over by the GPK Group. Today, administration and sales are based in Arzberg, while the warehouse and warehouse sales are in Bindlach . Mainly household porcelain is produced, around 6 million parts per year. Around two thirds of these are sold on the German market and one third is exported, mainly to EU countries. Around 120 people are employed.
literature
- Beatrix Münzer-Glas: FoundersFamilies - Family startups. A contribution to the history of the porcelain industry in Northeast Bavaria (publications and catalogs of the German Porcelain Museum 75), Hohenberg an der Eger 2002. ISBN 3-927793-74-4 . Pp. 111-140.
- Ludwig Danckert: Handbuch des Europäische Porzellans , Prestel, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7913-1173-5 .
Web links
- Retsch Arzberg Official website
- GPK homepage ( Memento from March 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )