The porcelain factory at Lippelsdorf, a district of Gräfenthal in the Thuringian forest, was established by Kuch & Co in 1877. From 1901 its owners were Berhard Wagner and his partners Anton and Bernhard Apel and it is now owned and managed by the fifth generations of their families. It remains a small company with less than 20 employees. The company was nationalised by the government of the DDR but the families continued to work at the pottery as employees. It was privatised and returned to family ownership in 1990, and the old workshops were restored with the help of the lande government of Thuringia in 2002, marking the firm’s 125th anniversary.
Visitors can see a coal-fired kiln once used for firing wares, a pug mill for working clay, and a steam engine of 1937. Displays of wares include many of the collectable items in which the works specialises, including figurines modelled on figures designed by Hilla Peyk, and porcelain chess sets. Products are all marked with a ‘W&A’ blue stamp.
Porzellanmanufaktur Wagner & Apel GmbH
Lippelsdorf 54
98743 Gräfenthal
Germany
+49 (0) 36701 - 61071
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