Weimar Porzellan

[2] [3] June 8, 1790 - The manufacturer and ceramists Christian Andreas Speck asked Friedrich Graf von Hatzfeld in Blankenhain to build a porcelain factory.

An important element was the establishment of a railway line between Blankenhain and Weimar in 1887; this provided a major advantage for the factory, which by that time had already been producing mainly large quantities of porcelain goods.

As one would expect, both businesses suffered a setback with the outbreak of World War I; exports dropped away and employees were called to the front line.

In 1917, towards the end of World War I, Hamburg businessman Ernst Carstens acquired the porcelain factory in Blankenhain from Duxer Porzellanmanufaktur AG.

As soon as he took over the operation, naming it: "E. Carstens KG", he added a crown and a laurel wreath to the company trademark in order to herald in a new era.

Everything at that time was a challenge, raw materials and fuel were hard to obtain, the export markets had to be rebuilt, inflation was devastating and there were 300 workers and 20 employees on the payroll.

By stylistic innovation of the supplies and a price adjustment for the benefit of the customers, the Carstens family managed to revive the export markets.

At that time, china from Weimar was known and appreciated for its style in England, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, America and the Middle East.

Carstens led his company in quite a strict and rigid fashion in order to stay operational during the Great Depression and the workers were the ones who paid for extremely low but necessary export prices.

After the death of Carstens, his widow and two sons ran the factory until it was confiscated and nationalised by the Soviets in July 1948, the year before the official establishment of East Germany.

For example funding was made available for the following improvements: a new production hall (1962), a modern electro-cobalt furnaces (1963) and the shift to conveyor belt-production in the spinning department (1963–65).

In June 1995 the city of Blankenhain, together with British American Ltd. and Optima Immobilien GmbH bought shares from the bankrupt Weimar Porzellan.

Managing Director and owner of the company today is Turpin Rosenthal, who represents the 6th generation of his family to be actively involved in the china industry.