Gmundner Keramik Manufaktur

Gmundner Keramik Manufaktur is not only Europe’s largest ceramics manufacturer, it is also the only company in the world that still practices the decorative technique of flaming and trains flamers. Each piece that leaves the manufactory is unique – yet the typical pattern is unmistakable. With an awareness level of 87%, the brand is the number 1 in Austrian tableware. Guided tours of the manufactory offer interesting insights into the multi-layered manufacturing process, and those who wish can also try their hand at painting ceramics themselves under supervision.

A special characteristic of the company is its affinity for art. Already at the end of the 19th century there was a lively exchange with artists from Vienna, which led to a cooperation with the Wiener Werkstätte. At the end of the 1960s and in the 1970s, it was artists from Group H around Gudrun Wittke-Baudisch, such as Franz Josef Altenburg and Anton Raidel, as well as the designer Wolfgang von Wersin, who shaped the forms and patterns of Gmundner Keramik.

Today, artists from all over the world are offered the opportunity to work on the premises of the company as part of the residencies of the Academy of Ceramics Gmunden, a joint project between the Gmundner Keramik Manufaktur and the OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH. Her works created in the process are shown in changing exhibitions.