What inspired you to create your extensive, three-volume work?

The inspiration for the scientific study of the topic “KPM in the 20th Century” was, on the one hand, the company's own collection, which is presented in detail in the two catalogue volumes. My love for Berlin Modernist porcelain was practically placed in my cradle by my parents. I began to expand the collection early on, so that it is now the largest of its kind in the world. Furthermore, it was of particular concern to me to bring the artists who designed for the manufactory in the seventy years between 1918 and 1988 out of the shadows of the past and back into the light of public attention. Their artistic peculiarities and their often bumpy paths in life, due to the turmoil of the 20th century, deserve thorough study, which art historiography has for the most part not yet provided.

What fascinates you about KPM Berlin, its history, its artists and works?

With regard to the products of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin, even after years of intensive engagement, I am repeatedly fascinated by the sheer endless variety of art and utility porcelain produced. This applies both to the constantly evolving model design and the diverse decor designs.

In your research on KPM Berlin, which has spanned over a decade, what is one insight that you found particularly fascinating?

While working on my book, I made countless new discoveries: be it with regard to the authorship of individual models or decors, or in the biographies of the artists involved. There were real aha moments when, for example, I came across the fact that Edith Alberti, who designed for KPM in the 1920s - about whom little more than her name was known until then - worked as an antique dealer in Berlin after her marriage until the 1970s and was therefore also known to my father.

Do you have a favorite object in your porcelain collection?

My favorite object is always the one I acquired most recently, because there is still so much to discover and describe about it.

From your perspective, how does the Berlin Porcelain Manufactory in the period you outlined differ from today's privately managed company?

The Berlin Porcelain Manufactory was always a state-owned model enterprise, even in the times of the Prussian kings and the German emperors. This exemplary function vis-à-vis private porcelain production, desired and proudly accepted due to tradition and statute (State Porcelain Manufactory), continued despite various difficulties in the interwar years and up into the 1960s, before artistic development steadily declined. The change in society and culture was accompanied by the almost complete neglect of the manufactory's cultural heritage. The transition to the private sector can of course bring with it completely new artistic freedoms, even if the traditional heritage must always remain a large part of the company's identity.

You have described the biographies of the individual artists in detail in the third volume. Is there a person among them to whom you feel particularly connected?

In the course of my long-standing research work on over eighty artists, some have become particularly dear to me. This does not always only have to do with the artistic œuvre; often the biographical circumstances allowed me to develop special sympathies for a particular person. Due to family circumstances, I was particularly touched by the severe fates triggered by Nazi barbarism, which ranged from existential fears due to professional bans to life-threatening persecution and exile to suicide out of fear of impending annihilation.

If you could decide which porcelain object from your collection should be reissued by KPM Berlin – what would you choose?

In my opinion, an innovative manufactory would do well to develop new, contemporary products itself, ideally in a synthesis of form and decor. I can therefore see the temptation to use designers and artists from past eras for today's production, and there are certainly numerous rediscoveries in my work that have lost none of their fascination in the 21st century. However, I can only advise KPM not to dwell too much on the past, but to look to the future with an open mind to external influences and to produce new porcelains that are typical of their time.