The family-run pottery Frommhold in Saxony, Germany, is the last remaining manufacturer of traditional kitchen utensils in the area. Founded in 1851 the Frommholds still produce typical kitchen utensils and table ware known as ‘Braunzeug’ (brown stuff) and the traditional regional Bunzlauer ceramics.
When Carl Luis Frommhold set up his pottery in 1851, little did he know his business would be family-run for the next five generations and would survive total destruction during WW2 as well as the trade barriers set up by Eastern Germany. In the 1850s there were plenty of other potteries in the region producing the brown-glazed table ware, but with the advent of mass-produced porcelain, which was substantially cheaper and more fireproof, traditional pottery fell gradually out of favour.
After WW1, artist Max von Schleinitz, who painted vases and jugs with vibrant blue geometrical patterns, reinvigorated local production and the Frommholds began to produce the multicoloured blue and white table ware, for which the region – Lausitz – would become known.
Today, the pottery still uses the same techniques developed back then in the 1920s and 30s, using small sponges to hand-paint on the colourful patterns, and traditional forms and samples are kept in the pottery for reference. Even the loam glaze used is made traditionally on site.
The well-stocked online shop features everything from crockery to kitchen utensils such as jugs, bowls or pots and decorative items like vases, flower pots and even piggy banks. All products are suitable for dishwashers and re oven-proof. The pottery is also open to particular design ideas and is happy to custom-make items.
For those in the area, it’s well worth visiting one of the pottery’s three shops:
Königsbrück
Werksverkauf
Weissbacher Str. 21
01936 Königsbrück
Lübbenau
Spreewald
Spreewaldkeramik
Dammstr. 76 a
03222 Lübbenau
Töpferstube auf Schloß Moritzburg
Schloßallee
01468 Moritzburg
