Main emphasis of the collection
The history of the pottery craftsmanship in Bürgel is presented in a clearly structured and illustrative (permanent) exhibition. Special exhibitions show the history of the single pottery workshops and manufactories or present single ceramic personalities. We also glance at other pottery centres in Thuringia and Germany as a whole.
The only specialized museum for ceramics in Thuringia already came into being in 1880 as sample collection and was open to the public.
Being one of the oldest ceramics museums at all, particularly the 450 years of pottery tradition in Bürgel is documented.
Further more complementing fields of collection concerning German and Thuringian pottery history are cared for. These are mainly from the second half of the 20th century as well as contemporary ceramics shown at the example of the competitions for the Walter-Gebauer-Ceramics Prize. Nowadays the continuously growing collection stock comprises about 5,500 inventory numbers.
There is a new field of collection with the products of the Dornburg Ceramics Workshop dating of all periods in use by the Bauhaus, further to Otto Lindig and to the the Körtings.
Collection concerning the pottery history in Bürgel
This field of collection is the oldest and most comprehensive one. Besides the widely known Bürgel stoneware with the blue thrown glaze the whole range of earthenware is documented. There are numerous examples of various slip decors up to the Bürgel blue and white ceramics that has become classic in the meantime. One of the goals is to show typical and untypical pieces manufactured in all workshops. Highlights in the collection form the workshops and manufactories that have become famous beyond the everyday tableware, e.g. Carl Gebauer, Eberstein/Hohenstein, C. A. Schack, Carl Fischer, Otto Beyer, Reichmann and Walter Gebauer.
Positions of the Thuringian pottery history outside Bürgel
Besides Bürgel there were further pottery centres in Thuringia.
The Werra-area has to be mentioned where a small collection stock comes from and that has been extended sporadically for the purpose of comparing. The museum collects regarding Thuringian ceramicists and workshops already existing in the second half of the 20th century and so representing the essential positions of the artistic and consumer ceramics in the GDR. The following belong to this category:
the Körtings in Dornburg, the Saalfeld community of artists with Karl Jüttner, Gerhard Dölz, Dietrich Kleinschmidt and Gerda Körting; Römhild ceramics of Siegfried Gramann’s firm, Joseph Höhler’s and Johannes Urban’s ceramics from Friedrichroda, Albert Kießling and Ralf Unterstab in Langenhessen, Kristian Körting from Saalfeld and also Ulli Wittich-Großkurth from Jena.
Positions of the German pottery history
Due to several donations a still young and comparably small collection stock comprises a representative cross section of Lotte Reimers’ works, who lives in Deidesheim. This group is accompanied by further individual items of West German ceramics before 1989 (Aage Birk, Reinhold Rieckmann).
Positions of contemporary ceramics with the example of the Walter-Gebauer-Ceramics Prize
Since awarding the ceramics prize of the town Bürgel for the first time in 1995 – today the Walter-Gebauer-Ceramics Prize – the Ceramics Museum has succeeded in acquiring all pieces of the competitions that won prizes or gained praises. In that way not only a unique collection of award-winning contemporary ceramics has arisen but also generous support allowed the acquisition of items recommended by the respective jury of the competition. There are further pieces in the collection due to a particular quality in the skilful performance or due to original creative ideas and decors demonstrating the variety of current ceramics creativity impressively.
Collection of the Dornburg Ceramics Workshop
The creation of a museum out of the Dornburg Ceramics Workshop requires as basis exhibits that are suited to document the history of the place and its (ceramic) historic importance and make this history come alive in a special way. For many years the creation of such a suitable collection has been systematically taken care of.
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