Tour 2: Augarten Manufactory

back to: Social program

The tradition of the Viennese porcelain production starts very early: The porcelain manufactory was founded as the second one in Europe (after Meissen). Originally, Augustus the Strong was the only one in Europe who possessed the recipe for "white gold" (since 1710), and for a long time it was a closely guarded secret. In 1718, Claudius Innocentius du Paquier succeeded in an adventurous operation to poach some craftsmen from the closely guarded Meissen porcelain manufactory to Vienna. He established a small manufactory which moved in 1721 to a location close to our Conference site, known today as the Porzellangasse. A china plaque at number 51 commemorates the former site.

The original Vienna manufactory went out of business in 1864. The porcelain of this original Vienna manufactory is often referred to as "Old Vienna" (Alt Wien) porcelain, to distinguish it from the new production series. The subsequent manufactory was established in 1923. It revived the traditions of the old Vienna porcelain manufactory by continuing the production methods and patterns of the historic manufactory. Now it is located in the Augarten, a large garden designed in the French style. The Augarten Palace is located here, which hosts the porcelain manufactory and it is the home of the Wiener Sängerknaben. Also a new concert hall, the MuTh (an acronym from music and theatre) is located in the Augarten.

In 2003, the manufactory went bankrupt. The bankruptcy estate was bought by the company VMS (Value Management Services GmbH) and the "Neue Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten" was founded.

Our tour starts in the mold warehouse of the Augarten factory, continues into the "kitchen" (this is where the porcelain dough is produced from kaolinite, quartz, and feldspar). The finished mass is rotated for several weeks by a pump through a machine with magnets to remove even the smallest iron particles. The mass is pumped up one floor and filled into plaster molds. The plaster sucks the liquid out of the mass - the longer it stays in, the thicker the piece becomes. The porcelain is fired before and after the glazing as well as after the painting. At the end of the tour we shortly visit the Porcelain Museum, which displays a collection of historic and contemporary porcelain pieces.

back to: Social program