Echtbürgel Pottery @museum.de

M: At Echtbürgel, it's all blue all the time. While the other workshops have expanded their ranges or abandoned the traditional blue and white altogether, Echtbürgel has concentrated entirely on this distinctive pattern.

F: As a pottery, today's "Töpferei Echtbürgel GmbH" can be traced back to Carl Fischer, one of the 20th century's most influential ceramicists. Originally from the village of Ostrau in Saxony, he completed his training in Bunzlau and, after several moves, eventually settled in Bürgel. The focus on blue and white started with Fischer, though he combined the colours with floral ornaments applied in the engobe technique. During the Third Reich, the pottery received large orders for stackable canteen crockery, which ensured the small factory's survival.

On the first of January 1959, the “Producers' Cooperative for Arts and Crafts” was set up. Fischer's workshop was just one of the local businesses incorporated into the new organisation. Nevertheless, Fischer was able to retain a certain autonomy and operate as a separate master's department, expanding and refining the style he'd developed.

M: In 1963, Carl Fischer's daughter Marieluise, Bürgel's first female master potter, succeeded her father in the master's department, six years before his death. During the GDR period, almost all the pottery produced with the blue and white pattern was exported to the West.

F: After German reunification, the cooperative was disbanded. The Fischer and Friedel master's departments merged to form the "Bürgeler Kunsthandwerk GmbH", which became today's "Töpferei Echtbürgel GmbH" in 2000.

A huge range of blue and white products emerged. From plates, jugs and cups in all sizes to candle holders and ceramic jars to piggy banks, plus decorative figurines and wall clocks. And in addition to the hand-thrown pots, Echtbürgel also extended its range to include casting. The process is complex, but allows for a greater variety of shapes in Bürgel blue and white.

M: The blue and white also crops up on tea towels, cushion covers, oven gloves and kitchen calendars, because since 1997, the "Textilkunst Bürgel" brand has been marketing the traditional pattern on textile products. Today, Echtbürgel GmbH has ten potters on its staff. And in cooperation with artisans from the Ore Mountains, they've been creating a combination of wood carvings and miniature Bürgel pottery and expanding the range to include more high-quality articles.