Keramische Fachschulen : In Deutschland (1870-1945)

The boom in the ceramics industry from the second half of the nineteenth century brought with it a rising demand for qualified workers, so that the foundation of technical colleges for ceramics in Landshut (1873), Hohr (1879) and Bunzlau (1897) provided a base for a broad and solid professional education.

Well-known artists acted at the colleges as teachers and advisers, among them Ernst Barlach, Paul Wynand, Jakob Julius Schvogel, Artur Hennig and Wolfgang von Wersin.

They not only imparted technical knowledge, but also provided the students with the chance to work creatively.

In this way, new and individual kinds of objects were produced which became models for other craftsmen and industrial manufacturers.

The publication is the first general account of Germany's colleges of ceramics.

Besides recounting the history of the three schools, the text also discusses broader aspects of economic policies and pedagogical developments.

An extensive illustrated section shows works by teachers and stidents from 1900 to 1940, many of them never published before.

This provides an excellent survey of the changes from Jugendstil to Neue Sachlichkeit and finally to folkloric styles.