Image 0102-026-01-01
Used from 1890 onwards.
On 1878-03-15, Hermann Kühnert, a 28-year-old farmer from Etzdorf near Eisenberg bought a paper mill that was up for auction. Through his family's connection to the owner of Porzellanfabrik F.A. Reinecke in Eisenberg (Thuringia), Kühnert had acquired sufficient knowledge to convert the paper mill into a porcelain factory. The location was ideal, as raw materials were easily accessible, there was a railway line nearby, and many people in the area were looking for work.
Following the initial modifications, Kühnert signed a contract with Magnus Tischer, a businessman from Neuhaus am Rennweg who was a partner in a local decorative business at the time, on 1878-05-15. Tischer became the financial director of the Moschendorf factory, enabling Kühnert to concentrate on his role as technical director. Qualified workers from Thuringia and Bohemia were employed to ensure a quick start. The first firing tests began at the end of November 1878, and the Hof trade register shows that Kühnert registered his firm at the start of 1879.
On 1895-02-11, the company became a limited company and the first steps towards expansion were taken. This resulted in a total of nine kilns and a workforce of 700 people by 1905, which dropped to around 600 after the overall workflow had been optimised under the management of Johannes Bacher. Paul Reinecke from Eisenberg joined the company in 1907, replacing Kühnert as both technical director and co-proprietor. On 1909-11-12, his brother Otto Reinecke took over as managing director. It is claimed that he became the sole proprietor from 1937 onwards.
Some publications overlook commonly known facts about the factory. For example, Paul and Otto were indeed the sons of Hermann Reinecke, the owner of the porcelain factory in Eisenberg. Philipp Rosenthal from Selb was also a member of the supervisory board between 1909 and 1929.
From around 1910 until 1938, there was a contract between Porzellanfabrik Moschendorf AG and the New York-based import and distribution company Leon D. Bloch & Co., which ordered items not only from Moschendorf, but also from other manufacturers such as Schmider in Zell. Even though the Moschendorf factory had its own export marks, items sold to Bloch carry exclusive marks including the name "Prince Regent", "Prince Regent Bavaria" or "Prince Regent Germany", all of which are owned by the Moschendorf business.
In 1915, there was a change in the supervisory board, with Mr C. Bruchmann took over from Hermann Wollmer. Despite the shortage of raw materials during the First World War, the company was still able to complete a few small construction projects. In addition to the six existing houses for workers, a further three were built between 1918 and 1921.
In 1921, the supervisory board underwent yet another change when Bruchmann resigned and was replaced by Rudolf Reinecke, who was also responsible for the Moschendorfer Porzellanmalerei Co. KG decoration studio, which opened in Dresden that same year. Otto Reinecke was manager of this decoration studio until he retired from that function in 1934. The year 1922 saw the opening of another decoration studio in Eisenberg (Thuringia), but business itself was decreasing and in 1923 the company already had to fall back into short-time work. At first, 60 employees from the normal workforce of 360 were laid off. Between 1924 and 1927, two kilns were closed and working hours went down to 24 hours a week.
Just managing to survive the next years the limited company finally fell apart in 1937 and Otto Reinecke, who from 1910 until 1937 had run the Porzellanfabrik F.A. Reinecke in Thuringia together with his brother, Paul Reinecke, completely took over the factory.
During the war, Otto Reinecke had massive problems with the National Socialist Party as he was strictly against the regime. In 1941, a patch of lease-hold property from the Reinecke factory was used to build a camp for prisoners of war from eastern Europe. Reinecke had tried to avoid this and later even ignored orders to switch production to items used by the army. Annoyed by his opposition, the National Socialists closed the factory. In 1944 the premises of the closed factory were used to build a labour camp which at first was a branch of the concentration camp in Dachau for a short time until it was declared a branch of the concentration camp in Flossenbürg. The SS also took over the mansion of Otto Reinecke directly next to the factory.
Unlike most Bavarian porcelain manufacturers, who were able to restart production immediately after the Second World War, the factory in Moschendorf did not resume production until autumn 1948. This was because the American forces believed - despite the aforementioned evidence - that Reinecke had belonged to, or at least strongly supported, the SS. This belief was based on the mere idea that a labour camp had been built on the factory premises and that this would actually "prove" his guilt. By the time Reinecke's name was cleared, a large proportion of the finished stock had already been taken as compensation.
The Moschendorf factory, and especially its Indischblau decoration series, had an excellent reputation. According to documents left by Julius Kellermann, a banker from Hof, it was precisely this flawless reputation that resulted in a spectacular offer from the Meissen factory in 1948: Reinecke was offered the opportunity to produce Original Meissner Indischblau decorated porcelain, with the exclusive right to use the Meissen crossed-sword mark during the contract period. It is not known how Reinecke felt about this, but he actually turned down the offer.
Otto Reinecke died in 1951. As he had never married or had children, he declared in his will that his housekeeper, Elly Künzel, should be the beneficiary. Over the years, the factory's product range included normal household porcelain, porcelain doll heads and luxurious decorative items. It even used moulds from Porzellanfabrik Fraureuth, vormals Römer & Foedisch in Saxony. However, despite its experience and good reputation, the factory closed on 1957-11-23 due to massive financial problems. Elly Künzel sold the estate to the city of Hof and received a life annuity.
Around 1906, the factory produced mainly household items and luxury goods and owned dedicated showrooms in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, London and Paris. The main export markets were North America and Italy, as well as Denmark and Sweden. One of the most successful product lines was the Strohblume (alias Strohhalmdekor) pattern, produced between 1915 and 1957. Another well-known product was the "Schokoladenmädchen-Service", a set decorated with a transfer based on the oil-on-canvas painting "Das Schokoladenmädchen" by Jean-Étienne Liotard from around 1744/45. This set was produced from 1904 until around 1938. The China Blau series was not a Moschendorf creation, but was acquired after the Nazis disowned the original creator, porcelain factory owner Carl Hans Tuppack. During this process, all of his copyrights were declared invalid, meaning that anyone could copy his designs.
Body shapes usually had four-digit product codes. However, exceptions included Form Konisch, produced around 1915, and Form Feston (Wellenrand), produced between approximately 1920 and 1957. Other known body shape codes include:
Image 0102-026-01-01
Used from 1890 onwards.
Image 0102-026-01-02
Used from 1890 onwards.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-01
Used from 1895.
Image 0102-026-02-02
Used from 1895.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-03
Used from 1895.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-04
Also used from 1895.
Image 0102-026-02-05
Used between 1895 and 1910.
Image 0102-026-02-06
Used between 1895 and 1910.
(Picture: Jeffrey Garrett)
Image 0102-026-02-07
Used between 1900 and 1920.
Image 0102-026-02-08
Used between 1900 and 1920.
(Picture: Vicki Young)
Image 0102-026-02-09
Used between 1900 and 1930.
Image 0102-026-02-10
Used between 1900 and 1930, here in red.
Image 0102-026-02-11
Like before, here with the "LDB Co." mark including "Prince Regent China" used from 1910 onwards.
(Picture: Donna Biester)
Image 0102-026-02-12
This is another version of the "LDB Co." mark on items made in Moschendorf.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-13
Used between 1900 and 1936 on products for export.
Image 0102-026-02-14
Used between 1900 and 1936.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-15
Used between 1900 and 1936.
(Picture: Fran Kerbs)
Image 0102-026-02-16
Used between 1900 and 1936 on products for export.
Image 0102-026-02-17
Used from 1910 onwards.
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Used between 1910 and 1935 on items (re)decorated by Dr. Rudolf Reinicke in Dresden.
Image 0102-026-02-19
Used between 1920 and 1935.
Image 0102-026-02-20
Used between 1921 and 1928, used on Moschendorf items decorated at the studio in Dresden.
Image 0102-026-02-21
Used between 1921 and 1928, used on Moschendorf items decorated at the studio in Dresden, here with 'HANDGEMALT' addition.
Image 0102-026-02-22
Used between 1921 and 1928, Moschendorf items decorated in Dresden, the additional "S" stood for "Saxony".
Image 0102-026-02-23
Used between 1921 and 1928, Moschendorf items decorated in Dresden, the additional "S" stood for "Saxony".
Image 0102-026-02/03-01
Used between 1904 and 1938.
Image 0102-026-02/03-02
Used between 1904 and 1938 on products for export.
Image 0102-026-02/03-03
Used between 1904 and 1938 on products for export, green version.
Image 0102-026-02/03-04
Used between 1904 and 1938 on products for export, blue version.
Image 0102-026-02/03-05
Used between 1904 and 1938, here shown with the "LDB Co." mark.
(Picture: Melody Stacey)
Image 0102-026-02/03-06
Used between 1910 and 1957.
Image 0102-026-02/03-07
Used from 1920 onwards.
Image 0102-026-02/03-08
Used from 1920 onwards.
Image 0102-026-02/03-09
Used from 1920 onwards.
Image 0102-026-02/03-10
Used from 1920 onwards.
Image 0102-026-03-01
Used between 1952 and 1957.