~ A Westerwald
History ~ |
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This
thumbnail history was taken from a large descriptive poster in the |
14th century |
Hard-fired stoneware starting ca. 1350, red-brown and flamed utilitarian articles. |
1402 |
First
documented mention of potters in the town of |
End 16th century |
Blue-grey salt-glazed stoneware. Master potters from Siegburg and Raeren relocate to the Westerwald area. |
1643 |
Cooperative Guild, with its own Guild coat-of-arms, of all "jug-" and "stein-bakers" living within a 5-mile radius of Grenzhausen. |
17th century |
The golden era of Westerwald stoneware. |
After 1650 |
Manganese violet is used as glaze colorant in addition to cobalt blue. |
1771 |
More than 600 potters work in the Westerwald. |
1776 |
The "pipe-bakers" Guild of the Electoral District of Trier ((Kurtrier). |
1786 |
First documented mention of "Jug Bakers’ Land" (Kannenbäckerland) |
1804 |
Termination of the Trier District jug-bakers’ Guild. |
1814 |
Termination of the local jug-bakers’ Guild. |
1846 |
Beginning of mechanized manufacture; the first clay-cutting machine in Höhr. |
1863 |
First clay pipe (conduit) press in Höhr. |
1865 |
First steam-driven machine in Höhr. |
1868 |
Reinhold Hanke founds the first "Fine Stoneware Factory" (Feinsteinzeugfabrik) in jug-bakers’ land. First appearance of "Historismus". |
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1879 |
First stein press in Baumbach. |
1882/83 |
First round furnaces in Höhr and Grenzhausen. |
1894 |
Approximately 270 ceramic establishments, with about 2000 employees, in jug bakers’ land. |
After 1900 |
Beginning of Jugendstil stoneware. Well-known artists prepare designs for Westerwald stoneware: Ernst Laurenty, Henry van de Velde, Richard Riemerschmid, Paul Wynand, Peter Behrens, among others. |
1902 |
Development of copper red glazes in the salt furnace. |
After 1920 |
Introduction of slip-molding in jug bakers’ land. |
Since 1927 |
Resurgence of artistic handiwork (Elfriede Balzar-Kopp and Wim Mühlendyck). |
1952 |
First gas-fired tunnel kiln in the Land of the Jug Bakers. |
Mid-1983 |
The last of the wood-fired salt-glazing furnaces is shut down because of environmental considerations; only furnaces equipped with gas-scrubbing equipment may be used for salt-glazing. |
Source:
http://www.steincollectors.org/library/articles/W-Wald.html