Enamelled Household Utensils from 1890 to 1985 @museum.de

This room is dedicated to Container and Apparatus Construction, which has been based in Thale since 1900.

To make large containers, you need one thing above all else (apart from high-quality sheet steel, of course): high-performance welding technology. That’s why a large welding plant was built on the Thale site in 1904.

And now for a brief trip back in time. Take a look at the showcases in the three recesses here in this room to track the development of enamelware.

The pots, cake tins and jugs in the display case on the far left are from the period between 1890 and 1920. Transforming a sheet metal blank into a beautiful pot requires two layers of enamel: a ground coat layer, and a cover coat. The latter determines the item’s colour. The pieces in the display case are pale greyish blue, the typical colour of the period. If you look closely, you can tell that the water jug right at the top was made before 1900, since the handle is riveted to the body.

In the middle display case, you’ll find cookware produced in the first decade after the Second World War. It includes the first set of pots and pans to be produced after industrial manufacturing had restarted – those are the ones in the middle.

Thanks to the labels with the Lion Enamel logo, we’re not only able to date the cookware series to the period after 1945; the image of the venerable king of the beasts also testifies to the quality of the Thale enamel.

The kettle at the bottom of the display case has the traditional shape and may seem rather large by modern standards. It was meant to be used on a coal-fired stove. Even during the post-war years, this kind of kettle was often the only source of hot water in the home.

The display case on the right contains Thale enamel products from the 1970s and ‘80s. The pot-bellied milk pots were very fashionable in the mid-80s!

Look at the décor, too: the writing on the potato steamer was screen-printed. The items on the lower shelves were intended for children, and decals were used for the images. Since decals weren’t produced in the GDR, they were sourced by the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Berlin. And the finished products, in fine quality Thale enamel, were often re-exported!

Making a high-performance boiler is quite a complex process.

First, strong sheet metal has to be formed into a cylindrical shape and then welded along the longitudinal edges. The resulting tube forms the central section of the future container. Then the floor and the lid, the valves, the inflow and drain devices have to be manufactured and welded on.

Since 1980, robots have been used at Thale to weld the seams inside the containers. You probably remember that we saw one earlier, next to the main clock.

Finally, the seams have to be checked by X-ray and tested for leaks. Only then can the container be enamelled.

In here, you have a chance to get a closer look at this type of industrial enamelling. Perhaps you’ve already noticed the large, curved, dark blue sheet of metal? In case you’re wondering – that’s what the interior of a boiler looks like – in this case, it’s been turned inside out. Feel free to run your fingertips over that firm, shiny layer. This is what a tank for chemicals is like on the inside. The exterior of such a tank is given a layer of rust-proof paint, though that looks much less spectacular.

These days, sheets up to 30 mm thick can be enamelled in Thale – that’s equivalent to one and three sixteenths of an inch. If you’d like to know which products are manufactured in Thale today, what the firm of THALETEC makes these days, and how extensive its portfolio is, perhaps you’d like to watch a short film. It’s shown on the screen directly right above our impressive chemical tank.