Is it art? Is it ordinary stuff? It’s both, and a lot more besides – it’s ceramic. Here at the edge of the Westerwald, a unique crafts and arts scene lives and works with one of the oldest and most varied materials known to mankind. Höhr-Grenzhausen is the cradle of German ceramics and is one of its most important locations in Europe.
The small town owes its position as a ceramics centre to its unique location. Europe’s largest contiguous clay formations are found in the Westerwald and they come in a very special quality and variety. So it’s no wonder the region became Kannenbäckerland (jug bakers’ land) and Höhr-Grenzhausen its centre.
Pottery has been made here since the 14th century. But not only pots have been baked here for quite some time. Ceramics have been transformed from a commonly used item to an object of art without losing sight of their tradition. In Höhr-Grenzhausen traditional workshops operate alongside art studios. This is where the clay is turned, shaped, glazed and fired – and creative techniques are used to try out new things. But ceramics are also a very modern material and as technical ceramics they have an exciting present and future.
Ceramics Museum Höhr-Grenzhausen, Westerwald
Feel free to witness how new life is breathed into the clay. The workshops are open for guided tours. You can buy your favourite piece directly from where it’s made. Or maybe you’d like to try yourself? In the wide range of workshops or courses held in them, there’s sure to be something for you too.
Every year, the ceramics town celebrates its art and its skills at the Höhr-Grenzhausen brennt Keramik (local pottery festival) or together with many international guests at the European Ceramics Market. The town’s ceramics workshops and studios present their most attractive pieces and celebrate a festival for the senses – ceramic, culinary and cultural.
The Westerwald Ceramics Museum. Here you can marvel at ceramics from the last five centuries – from the early salt-glazed stoneware to superb vessels of the Renaissance or Art Nouveau ceramics to artistic exhibits from the 20th century.
The two-kilometre long circular stele trail with works by the town’s ceramics artists, Grenzau Castle with its triangular keep that is unique in Germany and the Unesco world heritage site, the Upper German Rhaetian Limes (border of the Roman Empire) within the town precinct.
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