Person sketching a design on paper, with drawing tools nearby.
THE DESIGNERS OF KPM BERLIN

Outstanding creative minds have designed for the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin in every stylistic period since its foundation in 1763. Among them are world-famous artists such as Karl Frederick Schinkel, Trude Petri, Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain and Enzo Mari. Their designs have not only shaped the history of the manufactory, but also its time - and are still groundbreaking today.
 
A person sits on a chair in a work area with sketches in the background.
White KPM coffee filter on a green background.

THOMAS WENZEL (*1963)

Thomas Wenzel has headed KPM’s artistic development department since 1993. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Italian designer Enzo Mari on the creation of the BERLIN design, which won the iF Design Award. Collaborations with partners such as Bugatti, Burmester, and Bottega Veneta demonstrate Wenzel’s ability to engage in interdisciplinary cooperation. In 2013, to mark the manufactory’s 250th anniversary, he developed the KURLAND BLANC NOUVEAU collection, whose interplay of glazed surfaces and matte reliefs creates a truly unique visual and tactile experience. Wenzel’s current designs include the LAB series—featuring minimalist, technically inspired pieces—the multi-award-winning KPM coffee filter, and the KURLAND To-go cup, which is already considered iconic.
 

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In Thomas Wenzel's kitchen cupboard
I am looking for a challenge
 
Enzo Mari in a green sweater sits on a wooden chair.
A modern white porcelain vase on a purple background.

ENZO MARI (1932 - 2020)

Enzo Mari was one of the most intellectually formative and influential international designers of the 20th century. In his work, he explored questions of visual perception and his style is characterized by clarity. The Milanese artist worked for KPM Berlin from 1993 to 1996. The plates and bowls in the BERLIN collection he designed during this time are based on the classic basic shape of the goblet. The accompanying pot captivates with its almost perfectly spherical shape and its inverted handle gives it an innovative touch. The slender, upright MARI vases have a base made of brushed stainless steel for a modern, secure stand.
 

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KPM honors Enzo Mari
Master of form: Enzo Mari and the KPM
Black and white photo of a seated woman with a cigarette in her hand.

TRUDE PETRI (1906 - 1998) 

After training as a potter in Hamburg, Trude Petri initially worked as a freelancer for the Berlin manufactory in 1928. A year later, she was hired as a permanent designer and - at the age of just 25 - designed the URBINO dinner service in the New Objectivity style. At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937, the no-frills collection, based on the basic shapes of the sphere and circle, won the Grand Prix and even made it into the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Trude Petri produced her last design for the manufactory in 1967: the square CADRE vase is still a bestseller today.
 

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Trude Petri and the KPM Berlin
 
Black and white portrait of Siegmund Schütz

SIEGMUND SCHÜTZ (1906 - 1998) 

After studying sculpture and wood design, Siegmund Schütz worked as an artistic employee at KPM Berlin from 1932 to 1970. During this time, he had a decisive influence on the design of modern porcelain. He was particularly interested in surface design: Schütz designed numerous decorations in low and flat relief. The motifs for sculptural relief decoration (for example for the tea service designed by Trude Petri ARKADIAdesigned by Trude Petri) were inspired by natural forms and models from classical antiquity.
 
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Siegmund Schütz and the delicate medallions from the ARKADIA collection
A person forms clay on a potter's wheel in black and white.

Image: ©Giebichenstein Castle Archives – Halle University of Art and Design

MARGUERITE FRIEDLAENDER-WILDENHAIN (1896-1985)

After studying at the University of Applied Arts in Berlin, Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain enrolled at the State Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919. Ten years later, she became head of the ceramics workshop at the renowned State and Municipal School of Applied Arts Burg Giebichenstein in Halle. In collaboration with KPM Berlin, she created numerous designs for functional porcelain, which were later produced in Berlin. Examples include the minimalist HALLE mocha set in 1929 and the HALLE vase series in 1931. With the National Socialists’ rise to power, Friedlaender-Wildenhain’s career as a porcelain designer in Germany came to an abrupt end. She moved to the Netherlands and opened a small but successful pottery studio. In 1940, she emigrated to the United States.

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HOW MARGUERITE FRIEDLAENDER SHAPED THE KPM
 
Black and white portrait of Gerhard Marcks.
White porcelain serving tray with six compartments.

GERHARD MARCKS (1889-1981)

Bauhaus professor Gerhard Marcks was one of the most important German sculptors of the 20th century. With his work, he manifested the convergence of art and pure functional form - as realized at the Bauhaus. From 1929 to 1938, Marcks designed style-defining pieces for the manufactory, such as the confectionery bowl set, which set new standards with its clear design language and functionality.

Portrait of a 19th century man with curly hair and formal clothing.
White decorative KPM basket with wide rim and narrow foot.

KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL (1781-1841)

Karl Frederick Schinkel had a lasting influence on the architecture of classicist Prussia. The multi-talented artist also achieved outstanding results in the fields of interior architecture, design and painting. Schinkel's clear formal language and his departure from the sweeping curves of the Baroque were in line with the Prussian Enlightenment. Between 1818 and 1831 in particular, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory created a treasure trove of models based on Schinkel's designs, which have not lost their significance. One example is the classicist Schinkel basket with filigree openwork basketwork. Schinkel designed it in 1820 on behalf of the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm III. It is still elaborately crafted in the manufactory today.

Portrait of a man with dark hair and a high collar, in black and white.

JOHANN GOTTFRIED SCHADOW (1764-1850)

Johann Gottfried Schadow received drawing lessons at the age of twelve. After an apprenticeship with the court sculptor Jean Pierre Antoine Tassaert, he was offered a position in his studio. A stay in Italy was followed by his appointment as a teacher and designer at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin. As head of the court sculpture workshop and director of the art academy, he left his mark on the Berlin art scene in the first half of the 19th century.

Commissioned by the Prussian King Frederick II. Johann Gottfried Schadow II. the Prinzessinnengruppe, a double statue of Crown Princess Luise of Prussia and her younger sister Friederike, in marble. A smaller version was biscuit porcelain in biscuit porcelain for KPM Berlin.