HISTORY OF THE MANUFACTORY
Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM) has a history spanning more than 260 years and is one of Europe’s most important porcelain manufacturers. The following section outlines the most important milestones from its founding in 1763 to the present day.
1763
Friedrich Friedrich founded the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin. There had already been previous attempts to establish a production facility for “white gold” in Prussia’s capital. However, despite royal support, both the wool manufacturer Wilhelm Caspar Wegely and his successor, the merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, were forced to cease production due to financial difficulties. The Great, who had long wanted to own a company that produced precious and prestigious porcelain, paid a considerable sum for the acquisition. He gave the manufactory its name and his emblem, the royal scepter.
1763–1780
The king himself is his own best customer. For his palaces, Friedrich the Great commissions 21 tableware sets comprising up to 500 individual pieces and ornate table centerpieces. Among others, this leads to the development of the RELIEFZIERAT, NEUZIERAT, ROCAILLE, and NEUOSIER models. Their design and color schemes are tailored to the interiors of the palaces. Frederick’s state gifts also frequently came from the manufactory and graced the tables of European royal houses as well as the Russian imperial court. Even today, distinguished guests of the Federal President dine from the Rocaille service at Bellevue Palace.
1790
Peter von Biron, Duke of Courland, commissioned the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin to design a magnificent dinner service. To this day, the KURLAND collection—with its austere neoclassical form and a relief featuring antique drapery, egg-and-dart motifs, and a beaded border—remains one of the manufactory’s bestsellers and is considered arguably the world’s most significant neoclassical collection. Today, the KURLAND border also adorns “white gold” to-go cups and currywurst bowls. A KURLAND service is on hand at Charlottenburg Castle for larger state receptions.
KPM in Leipziger Straße 1763-1871
1790–1830
Friedrich After the death o Friedrich , the Great, in 1786, Wilhelm II took over the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin and turned it into a technologically leading company—featuring Berlin’s first steam engine and horse-powered glazing mills. Economically, the manufactory experienced rapid growth.
In terms of design, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Johann Gottfried Schadow , and Christian Daniel Rauch left their mark on KPM porcelain. Their designs were no longer as whimsical as during the Rococo period but drew inspiration from classical forms with clear contours and harmonious proportions. The “ Prinzessinnengruppe ,” based on a design by Johan Gottfried Schadow, dates from this period. The elaborately crafted statue, consisting of 88 individual parts, depicts Crown Princess Luise of Prussia and her sister Friederike. The “ Schinkelkorb ” by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, featuring a filigree openwork wickerwork design and still in production today, is part of a service that Friedrich Wilhelm III commissioned for the wedding of his eldest daughter.
1873
KPM Berlin . must make way for the construction of the Prussian State Parliament and leave its location near Potsdamer Platz. It is moving to the edge of the Tiergarten, which offers a major advantage: The new production facility, equipped with a modern ring kiln, is located directly on the Spree River and is accessible by boat.
kpm Site Tiergarten 1871–1943
1878
In 1878, the Chemical-Technical Research Institute was founded as a department of KPM. Its director, Hermann Seger, developed a softer porcelain body that could therefore be fired at a much lower temperature, as well as a wide variety of new glazes (crystal glazes, oxblood glazes, etc.). KPM thus followed a European trend that had begun in Sèvres and became a leading manufacturer in this field.
1895–1915
The designers at KPM Berlin are moving away from historicism and toward flowing, asymmetrical, and organic forms. The CERES tableware set, designed by the manufactory’s artistic director, Theodor Schmuz-Baudiß, is today considered one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau tableware sets. It was introduced in 1913 to mark the manufactory’s 150th anniversary.
1931
With the abdication of the Hohenzollerns in 1918, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory became the State Porcelain Manufactory of Berlin. Under its director, Günther von Pechmann—chairman of the German Werkbund—the ideas of New Objectivity influenced the work of KPM Berlin. The era of elaborate ornamentation was over; less was more. In 1931, Trude Petri’s dinner service “ URBINO ” was created, which won the Grand Prix at the 1937 World’s Fair and is now on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
1938
To mark the manufactory’s 175th anniversary, the “ ARKADIA ” dinner service has been created. The simple design was conceived by Trude Petri, and Siegmund Schütz—inspired by Greek mythology—adorned it with medallions made of bisque porcelain.
1943–1955
In November 1943, 80 percent of the factory’s railing was destroyed in a bombing raid. The Berlin State Porcelain Factory moved into exile in Selb, Bavaria. After the buildings were rebuilt, operations were able to resume at the “ Tiergarten ” in 1955.
KPM 1955–1998
1987
With the “ URANIA ” tableware set, the manufacturer responded to the demand from high-end restaurants for wide plate rims without relief decoration. Since 1987, the “ Arkadia ” tableware set has therefore been offered in the product line without the bisque medallions from “ Siegmund Schütz .” In 1988, the manufacturer was reorganized into a limited liability company (GmbH) under private law owned by the State of Berlin. To mark this occasion, the company reverted to the name “Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin.”
1996
Asymmetry and abstraction are replacing the austere forms of the earlier Bauhaus era. In the 1990s, a collaboration with Italian designer Enzo Mari led to the creation of a series of slender vases with square stainless-steel bases, as well as the BERLIN collection—which won the iF Design Award—featuring concave and convex stems.
2006
After several attempts at privatization, Berlin banker Jörg Woltmann took over the Berlin Watch Company ( Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin ) as its sole shareholder. Woltmann oversaw the restructuring of this long-established company and has guided the manufactory to this day.
2007
The opening of “The World of KPM,” a permanent exhibition chronicling the manufactory’s rich and varied history, marks the completion of a ten-year restoration and modernization project at the KPM site.
The World of KPM at the KPM Flagship Store
2016
Chief designer Thomas Wenzel draws inspiration from the manufactory’s former laboratory porcelain and has designed the “ LAB ” series—not a classic multi-piece dinner service, but a range of multifunctional and minimalist products for the modern kitchen laboratory. The pieces feature a glossy glazed top and a matte underside made of bisque porcelain, giving them a unique tactile quality. In addition to plates, bowls, and mugs, the “ LAB ” family includes spice mills, mortars, and a porcelain coffee filter, among other items. Each member of the family is recognizable not only by its timeless design but also by the chrome-green stamped mark and the “BERLIN” lettering.
2017
KPM Berlin has launched a collaboration with artist Stefan Marx, bringing together contemporary art and traditional craftsmanship. Encouraged by the positive response, the manufactory has since regularly engaged in creative exchanges with contemporary artists and designers, launching limited-edition pieces and products under the label “ KPM+ .”
2018
The KPM To-go mug is regarded as a symbol of a living symbiosis between tradition and contemporary spirit, style, and environmental awareness, and is the most commercially successful product since the manufactory was founded.
2022
The “ MANDORLA ” collection evokes memories, as the design is inspired by industrial-grade protective panels intended to shield walls and floors from excessive wear and tear. Stuttgart-based artist Reiner Xaver Sedelmeier inspired KPM’s chief designer, Thomas Wenzel , to embark on an artistic collaboration in which seemingly mundane everyday design is translated onto high-quality porcelain. The result is a collection of jugs, mugs, and vases made of bisque porcelain—all cylindrical in shape and cast to mimic the typical elliptical forms of the protective metal.
2023
To mark the 260th anniversary of KPM Berlin, we pay tribute to one of its most significant designers of all time: Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain. With the reissue of the “ aviator cup ,” the Royal Porcelain Manufactory is offering a true rarity of the New Objectivity movement.