Germany / Saxony-Anhalt / Annaburg:

[1] : Steingutfabrik Adolf Heckmann (1874 until 1895)

This factory was founded in 1874 by the older industrial Adolf Heckmann and business went well straight from the start. He made plans very early to convert the firm into a corporation as to ensure further business after he retired as there was nobody that could inherit the factory.

[2] : Annaburger Steingutfabrik A.G. (1895 until around 1950)

After transformation and adopting the new name of 'Annaburger Steingutfabrik A.G.' to show the new structure, everything continued normally and even setbacks like a fire which nearly gutted the main building on January 24th 1905 could not stop business. A few years later the situation had changed and the corporation was one of many looking for new markets and new employees that could increase business. One of these people was Friedrich Carl Untucht who later joined the corporation as director.

The businessman Friedrich Carl Untucht was born on May 10th 1870 in the city of Magdeburg and was the only child of Carl Untucht (born 1835, died 1906), the owner of the 'Carl Untucht & Co.' spirit refinery business in Magdeburg which had been founded 1876. The young businessman had learned the trade working for his father and had joined his company as a partner shortly before his father died in 1906. The young Untucht, looking for a challenge, started to expand business and by the year 1913 all spirit produced in and around Magdeburg came from the facility of 'Carl Untucht & Co.', his greatest achievement being the takeover of the 'Dschenfzigschen Melasse- & Spiritusbrennerei' which secured Untucht a monopolistic position on the market.

But he would not have been so successful if he had not been very interested in politics and its surroundings and so he was one of the first to realize the changes that would soon take place. Some representatives had been talking about a new law which would result in a total state control on spirits, the so-called 'Branntweinmonopolgesetz'. To secure his income and the future of his business, he had bought the area next to the family business shortly after his father died and started to run a small earthenware facility, which mainly produced earthenware bottles used to hold various spirits and beer. Needless to say, Untucht was also a board member of the 'Bodenstein A.G. Magdeburg' corporation, a brewery owned by Theodor Franz Julius Bodenstein. All his previous success and experience with earthenware simply predestined Untucht as director of the 'Annaburger Steingutfabrik'.

As director Untucht instantly restructured parts the business and thus was able to rapidly increase quality and output, leading the company to unknown heights. After very short time, he even reached a majority in shares and took over the business during 1919/1920, including his former earthenware facility in Magdeburg into the Annaburg corporation which helped cope with the rising demand, as the complete business now produced mainly for export purposes. There are no further records on the actual growth of the business and the only numbers known are that during 1925 it had a workforce of 230 which increased to 270 in 1934.

Over the time the facilities in Annaburg and Magdeburg drastically increased their product range, later including lamp bases, vases, planters, washing sets, kitchen utensils and basic tableware as well as classy tableware and coffee or tea sets. All items were decorated at the decoration studios which had their own building on the premises, using various on-glaze and underglaze decorating techniques like templates and airbrush stencil techniques as well as traditional hand painting.

As a full-fledged businessman Untucht had always been very observing also in political areas and he very early recognized the danger that the National-Socialist party posed for Germany. His experience and knowledge told him that a war would drastically decrease the German economy, no matter what the Nazi propaganda told people. But he did not live to see the outbreak of World War II; Friedrich Carl Untucht died at the age of 69 in Braunlage, a small town in Saxony-Anhalt and the company remained in the hands of the fellow directors who saw the facility through the dire war period.

Germany / Saxony-Anhalt / Annaburg:

[3] : V.E.B. Annaburg Porzellan (from around 1950 until 1990)

The factory was not damaged during the war years and even if the collapsing economy shortly before the war ended caused some short periods of closure, the company survived the war and could easily restart afterwards and offered a large variety of urgently needed household items. Some time after the founding of the G.D.R. in October 1949, the company was nationalized and continued business with mainly the same products, but not on such a large scale - note that no marks could be definately identified as belonging to this period. After the fall of the German Democratic Republic in 1989, 'V.E.B. Annaburg Porzellan' was integrated in the Treuhandanstalt program, established by the West German government to support and restore former East German companies through reprivatization.

[4] : Annaburg Porzellan G.m.b.H. (July 1st 1992 until today)

On July 1st 1992, the privatized company was taken over from the Treuhandanstalt by the 'CERAPLAN G.m.b.H.' which was located in Bavaria. Modernization and massive redevelopment together with new organisation structures enabled the new owners to lead the whole facility into a new period of economic upturn. Today the company not only produces tableware and hotel porcelain but also offers a range of special bathroom accessories and gifts. A cafe, a museum and a painting school have also been opened on the premises.

Germany / Saxony-Anhalt / Annaburg:

Marks

[1] : With initials for 'Adolf Heckmann'.

[1] : With initials for 'Adolf Heckmann' and 'Annaburg'.

[1] : Stylized 'A.H.' under a crown, with 'ANNABURG'.
(Picture by Kerry Beymer)

[1] : Same as before, only as impressed version.

[2] : With initials for 'A', 'St', A' for 'Annaburger Steingutfabrik Aktiengesellschaft'.

[2] : With stylized initials for 'A', 'S', A.G.' for 'Annaburger Steingutfabrik A.G.'.

[2] : Used between 1915 and 1925, here with 'CARDINAL' and '515' (another type was 'FREYA' with '533').

[2] : Used between 1915 and 1925, here with 'TORGAU' and '542'.

[2] : Used between 1920 and 1930, here just with 'DEC. 515' noting the decoration.

Germany / Saxony-Anhalt / Annaburg:

Marks

[2] : Used between 1920 and 1930, here with 'DEC. NÜRNBERG' noting the decoration.

[2] : Used around 1930, here with the '454' decoration code.

[2] : Mark of the 'Annaburger Steingutfabrik' subsidiary in Magdeburg used after 1920.

[4] : Used since 1992.

[4] : Used since 1992.