In 1949 the sculptor and potter Heiner-Hans Körting»Heiner-Hans Körting«Heiner-Hans Körting (1911 –1991) came from a well-known Berlin potter’s family. He was trained in the workshop of his parents, in Höhr-Grenzhausen and Berlin. Bombed out by the war and separated by imprisonment, Heiner-Hans and his first wife Gerda met again in Bürgel in 1946. First they tried to settle down in Bürgel but then they both took over the vacant Lindig workshop in Dornburg. Under the difficult conditions of the post-war period they succeeded step by step in getting the pottery running and in making it well-known again for qualitative ceramics manufactured in handicraft. New designs, a variety of glazes and the figurative pieces – among them the famous owl with a turning head – belonged to the profile of the workshop, also being formed particularly by Lisa Körting as Heiner-Hans’ second wife from 1955 onwards. and Gerda Körting»Gerda Körting«Gerda Körting (nee Gülcher, 1911 – 2000) finished the Master School of Craftsmanship in Berlin-Charlottenburg . After getting married to Heiner-Hans she also worked as a potter in the workshop of her parents-in-law, the Oranienburg pottery Körting. Evacuated from Berlin to Thuringia, she then worked in Carl Fischer’s ceramic workshop (Kunstkeramische Werkstätte) in Bürgel. Side by side with Heiner-Hans Körting she played an important part in the revival of the pottery workshop in the Dornburg Marstall. After the end of their marriage she first went to Jena. From 1956 she worked as a potter, being a member in the Saalfeld artists group/ association. After getting her master title she started (1961) to build up her own workshop that she ran to 1989. Her youngest son Kristian learnt the pottery craft under her, in her workshop. who had worked in Berlin before took over the vacant workshop. In that way a new chapter in the history of ceramic manufacturing began in Dornburg lasting up to present time. Lisa Körting»Lisa Körting«Lisa Körting (nee Koch, 1926 – 2009) studied ceramics at the Burg Giebichenstein starting in 1946. Hubert Griemert belonged to her most important teachers there. In 1950 she entered the Dornburg Körting workshop as a qualified ceramic worker (Gesellin). However, she left the pottery after a few months in order to study ceramics in Berlin-Charlottenburg. After her divorce she returned to Dornburg in 1954. One year later she got married to Heiner-Hans Körting. She played an important role in the organization and economic management of the workshop. She contributed with her creative potential to develop new designs of ceramic vessels and particularly to interpret the vase as an artistic object beyond its functional purpose. Completely independently she as the creator of ceramic sculptures went the way to abstraction. Starting in 1975 she managed “Small Gallery (Kleine Galerie)” in Dornburg as the curator. Up to 1988 she organized 26 art exhibitions there together with Ulrich Körting. , a potter herself and from 1955 Heiner-Hans’ second wife considerably contributed to the artistic profile and the nationwide appreciation of the workshop.

Although there took place an aesthetic break with the Bauhaus time, the Körtings were successful to make their workshop well-known with their special and modern products in the field of ceramic vessels, the animal and abstract sculptures as well as the decorative ceramic relief design. Ulrich Körting»Ulrich Körting«Ulrich Körting (born in 1956) is Lisa’s and Heiner-Hans’ Körting’s son. In 1975 he began his second vocational training – an apprenticeship as a potter in the workshop of his parents. He passed his master examination in 1983. After his father’s death in 1991 he took over the Dornburg workshop together with his mother. He has been running it alone since 1994. Ulrich Körting preserves the profile of the workshop formed by his parents. At the same time he plays an important role in maintaining the technical equipment (still existing from the Bauhaus time) in working order. He has been able to enrich the image of the Dornburg ceramics with his own features. , their son from the second marriage, continues to run the workshop as master potter at present. (also see chapter Lively workshop ).

Heiner-Hans und Gerda Körting