Dresden and Porcelain

The first European porcelain was created in Dresden between 1707 and 1709 In 2019 Meissen and Dresden remind the 300th anniversary of the inventor of Europan porcelain

Release time : 2018-10-15 15:00:18

source : Dresden Marketing Board

The first European porcelain was created in Dresden between 1707 and 1709 / In 2019 Meissen and Dresden remind the 300th anniversary of the inventor of Europan porcelain

More than 300 years ago, Saxon Electoral Prince August the Strong, like many of his royal contemporaries, dreamed of untold treasures, of diamonds, jewels, silver and gold. But August's gold was white, delicate, almost transparent and painted with fine patterns. It came from Japan and China and its complex production and long transit routes rendered it virtually priceless. And yet: August was obsessed with porcelain. He tasked his goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger with designing an“exquisite golden gemstone-adorned tea service” with enamelled and painted golden cups that would give the impression of porcelain. Created in 1703, the service is today one of the main attractions in the “New Green Vault”of the Dresden State Art Collections.

Two years before, August had the 19-year-old pharmacist apprentice and alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719) brought to Dresden from Wittenberg. The Prussian king was fixated on Böttger, who promised he could turn ls into gold. August and the Saxon aristocracy initially courted the supposed goldmaker, who sometimes even resided in the palace. Yet his attempts failed. Even the Saxon ruler's most sincere devotional prayers didn't help. Saxon scholar Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus steered Böttger's inventive drive toward the white gold.

Not a soul was to get wind of Böttger's experiments. And thus August had the alchemist brought to the secure Festung Königstein fortress during the Swedish siege of 1706. On 22 September 1707, Böttger got down to work in the Jungfernbastei bastion beneath today's Brühl's Terrace. The vaults of Dresden's ramparts are partly accessible today to the public. The chambers themselves, however, were buried during the Belvedere bombing. A