Former Christine Freigang Pottery @museum.de

F: "An der Stadtmauer" – at the very end of this road along the town wall, shortly before it becomes "Schulstraße", lies what used to be Christine Freigang's workshop. The artist died back in 2014, but the place where she worked still exists.

M: Christine Freigang was born into the Gebauer family, a Bürgel pottery dynasty – which was both a curse and a blessing. Her grandfather was Paul Gebauer, whose engobe décors proved a major influence on Bürgel pottery, and her father, Walter Gebauer, was one of East Germany's leading ceramicists.

F: Soon after completing her training as best in her year, she decided to become more independent of her father. She worked in other potteries, continued her training, and went to college. In 1972, she signed a tenancy agreement with her father and split off part of the workshop for herself. There, she started to produce her own ceramics, taught and experimented.

While her early pieces were still decorated all over with multi-coloured engobe painting, what came next was a long process of exploration and trial and error. Finally, in her late work, she settled on simple, functional shapes with monochrome matte or shiny glazes.

M: Christine Freigang's interest wasn't limited to ceramics. She was also involved in Bürgel's political, cultural and religious life and increasingly transformed her workshop into an art venue, calling it the "Galerie im Brennraum", the Kiln Gallery. For two decades, it served as a very special showcase for paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs and textile artworks.

F: After Christine Freigang's death, her house was taken on by a like-minded family friend. Once a year, for the annual pottery market in June, the former studio reopens and presents connoisseurs and amateurs with a roundup of old collector's items made of pottery.