Association of the Ceramic Industry
The Association of the Ceramic Industry eV (VKI) emerged from the Association of Bavarian Porcelain Manufacturers, which was founded in Selb in 1898, and from the Association of German Porcelain Tableware Manufacturers , which was based in Berlin until 1945 . The VKI is a trade association and employers' association for the industrial sectors:
- Crockery and decorative china
- Crockery and earthenware
- Technical ceramics
- Stove tiles.
The office community of the ceramic associations includes the Federal Association of Ceramic Industry eV, the professional association of the sanitary ceramic industry and the employers' association of the ceramic tile industry .
history
The origins of associations in the ceramic industry can be traced back well into the 19th century. As early as 1814 an "Association of the 7 Thuringian Porcelain Factories" was founded. In 1877 the first leading association of the German ceramics industry - the Association of Ceramic Trades - was born in Berlin . This new umbrella organization had set itself the task “on the one hand to advise the common interests of the members and on the other hand to raise the intellectual and material well-being of the workers through joint assistance of the members with advice and action and to contribute to the maintenance of the unity between employers and their workers. "
After the Association of Bavarian Porcelain Manufacturers was founded in 1898 at the suggestion of Privy Councilor Philipp Rosenthal , the founder of the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory, the Association of Ceramic Crafts - also at the initiative of Philipp Rosenthal - sent an invitation to all porcelain factories to a meeting in Berlin on June 9th 1899. This served the purpose of forming a cartel. The industry should be protected from overproduction and undercutting, primarily by setting minimum prices for the staple items. At that time, the formation of cartels was a common occurrence and an occasion for founding an association.
At the founding meeting on January 25, 1900, Philipp Rosenthal was elected chairman of the new association, which was to be named "Association of German Porcelain Factories for the Elevation of the Porcelain Industry, GmbH" and united 46 factories. The headquarters of the association, which over the years had become the Association of German Porcelain Tableware Manufacturers through new foundations and reorganizations , was in Berlin, Luitpoldstrasse 25. Philipp Rosenthal took over the office for a proud 18 years.
By 1921, a total of 30 cartel associations had been established under the umbrella organization of the Association of Ceramic Trades, covering the entire field of ceramics. These include B. the Association of German Porcelain Tableware Manufacturers, the Association of German Ceramic Paintings , the Association of German Luxury Porcelain Manufacturers , the Association of German Electrotechnical Porcelain Manufacturers (founded in 1919), the United Porcelain Isolator Works (founded in 1910) and the Association of German Dishwashing and Sanitaryware Manufacturers (founded in 1919) . 1906).
Especially in trade issues, e.g. For example, in a joint position on the customs policy of the United States of America , close cooperation with European partners, particularly from Bohemia , Austria and France , was sought between 1908 and 1933 .
In 1934, Rudolf Sies, another influential figure, took up his first term as chairman of the Association of German Porcelain Tableware Manufacturers. This lasted eleven years until all association activities were banned in 1945.
With the "Law for the preparation of the organic structure of the German economy" of February 27, 1934, the legal basis for the harmonization and the restructuring of the previous free association was created.
In the course of this development, the Ceramic Industry Economic Group was created as one of the 31 economic groups. By order of the Reich Minister of Economics on August 23, 1934, the economic group was recognized as the exclusive representative of the ceramic industry. While the Association of Ceramic Trades was completely absorbed into the Ceramics Economic Group, which was based on compulsory membership, the Association of German Porcelain Tableware Manufacturers was able to exist until 1945.
With the end of the Second World War, the economic groups virtually ceased to exist and all business associations were initially banned by the occupying powers.
Due to the great hardship of the post-war period, however, it did not take long before the first considerations for the establishment of a new economic association for the ceramic industry broke their spell. In particular, the difficult questions of raw material procurement and export opportunities after the lost war and the division of Germany into different occupation zones , was promoted by an association of the ceramic industry.
In August 1945, with the approval of the American military government, the founding meeting of the Bavarian state organization for the ceramic industry was held, as a result of which factory owner Richard Krautheim, Selb, was commissioned to try to found an association.
In the presence of the then Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs and the later Federal Chancellor, Mr. Ludwig Erhard , the “Association of the Ceramic Industry in Bavaria eV” was finally re-established on January 14, 1946 in Marktredwitz . The American military government stipulated that the association had to be called an association rather than an association. Both the towns of Marktredwitz and Selb came into question as the seat of the association. After the Hutschenreuther porcelain factory provided office space and there was enough living space for the employees in Selb, Selb was chosen as a provisional location.
After the association of the ceramic industry had established itself, Richard Krautheim handed over the chairmanship to the experienced Rudolf Sies of the Hutschenreuther company at the first ordinary general meeting on January 28, 1947 in Marktredwitz. His second term as chairman of a ceramic association lasted from 1947 to 1958 for a further eleven years.
During Sies' term of office, the VKI, whose member company was mostly based in Bavaria, joined the Bavarian industrial organization "Association of Employers in Bavaria (VAB)". Today it bears the name " vbw - Association of the Bavarian Economy eV "
According to Sies, the VKI was to be led by a number of well-known corporate personalities in the following decades, including B. Wilhelm Seltmann , Philip Rosenthal , Roland Dorschner , Oskar Deininger or Wendelin von Boch .
With the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) by the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, the importance of continuous exchange between the European ceramic industries increased steadily. The VKI was therefore a founding member of the European tableware association " Fédération Européenne des Industries de Porcelaine et de Faïence de Table et d'Ornementation (FEPF)" as early as 1958 . Philip Rosenthal was elected vice-president of the association on this occasion.
At the request of various European associations in which the VKI was involved, such as FEPF or the European sanitary association "Fédération européenne des fabricants de céramiques sanitaires (FECS)", the European umbrella association of the ceramic industry Cerame-Unie was founded in Brussels in 1962 .
In 1973 the association of the ceramic industry was renamed "Verband der Keramischen Industrie eV" . This was justified as follows:
“With the increased public relations work, it becomes necessary to choose a modern, meaningful designation that is commonly used in public for socio-economic and political associations of entrepreneurs. This is the term 'association'. The name 'association' has generally faded into the background in associations in recent years. In public it is usually associated with sports clubs or social clubs and not with an industrial association. (...). This name was also used by the association until the end of World War II; the name 'Verein' was imposed by Allied regulations. "
With the reunification in 1990 one faced the extensive task of integrating a large number of ceramic companies and conglomerates. In January 1991, 34 ceramic companies were welcomed as new members of the association. As a service, the new member companies were offered a series of information events covering various topics. Including, for example, employment contract law, cost management / calculation, valuation principles, marketing and sales , business law, works constitution law or collective wage agreements. The aim was to quickly and successfully integrate the new members into the West German economic system and the work of the association.
For various reasons, an office community was founded in 1997 with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Feinkeramische Industrie eV (AKI) . For this purpose, the AKI relocated its offices and employees from Frankfurt a. M. to the headquarters of the VKI, in Schillerstraße 17 to Selb.
goals and tasks
The VKI represents and promotes all common interests of its member companies, both in economic and socio-political as well as in social and collective bargaining areas. The VKI is a member of the Federal Association of German Industry (BDI) and the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations (BDA) through the "Bundesverband Keramische Industrie" (BVKI ), as well as a direct member of the European Association of Ceramic Associations CERAME-UNIE.
The chairman is Joachim Heym.