| Company/Institution: | Sigerd und Charlotte Böhmer |  | | Street: | Bergstr. 3 | | Post code, Town: | 56203 Höhr-Grenzhausen | | Country: | DE_Germany | | Phone: | 0 26 24 / 51 10 | | Fax: | 0 26 24 / 51 10 | | eMail: | | | URL: | http://www.kannofen.de | | |
| |
|
Offer: |
Cross-draft kiln firing 2004
Höhr-Grenzhausen, Bergstraße 3
18 March 2004: heating-up
4 April 2004: presentation of the fired goods
In spring 2004, it will once again be possible to experience what used to be a daily part of life in Höhr-Grenzhausen decades ago: thick, grey clouds of smoke over a Kannofenhaus (a type of cross-draft kiln house unique to this region). Fifty years have passed since the last firing in the gigantic Kannofen in the ceramic workshop "Keramikwerkstatt Böhmer”. It is the largest of the five Kannöfen which still exist in Höhr-Grenzhausen. Only three of them can still be used for firing. Höhr and Grenzhausen once boasted approximately 60 Kannöfen at a time.
Many ceramics enthusiasts from Höhr-Grenzhausen, other parts of Germany and abroad came together in order to make possible the firing of the 42 m3 kiln in mid-March 2004. The potters, fans of salt-firing, invested 500 work hours in the modernisation of the kiln. Several tons of refractory material, donated by companies in the Westerwald region, were used for the newly walled kiln roof and the repair of the three furnaces. It was possible to retain most of the original interior lining of the kiln, which is made of Schluus (a mixture of clay, sand and straw). This is important, as the entire glazed interior of the kiln greatly influences the appearance of the ceramics later fired in it.
Thousands of pots both large and small, traditional and modern, tableware, garden ceramics and sculptures all made by different workshops are being stowed in the kiln using the classic stacking method. In this method, the shape of the containers and the thickness of their walls must enable them to withstand great pressure. Goods which are less resistant to pressure are placed in stackable firing capsules in the kiln.
Briquettes (approximately 40 hundredweights) are traditionally used for the first firing stage, after which beech wood (approximately 35 m3) is burned. When the final temperature has been reached—and that may take more than two days—the arduous work of salting begins. A total of approximately 250 kg of table salt are scattered through the vent holes in the sides and roof of the kiln. This creates the traditional salt glaze.
The results of these efforts will be presented during the special event "Höhr-Grenzhausen brennt Keramik” (Höhr-Grenzhausen fires ceramics) on 4 April 2004. It will then become evident if this one-of-a-kind experiment to return to operation a salt kiln which has not functioned for 50 years now was a success. No one can predict whether or not the firing will work, as the old kiln has too many unpredictable factors. Even the experienced firing experts who will carry out the firing are not familiar with the unique characteristics of the large Kannofen in the Böhmer workshop.
The project was thus terra incognita for most potters. Like the potters of yesteryear, they are experiencing the difficulties and risks as well as the small delights and large joys of working in a community—just as has always been the case in this ancient, now lost trade.
We hope the project will yield many beautiful pieces on which the flames and salt have left their mark.
Participating workshops:
Charlotte and Sigerd Böhmer, Erika Bühler, Corzelius Co., Peter Eichelberg, Girmscheid Co., Axel Günther, Martin Goerg, Emil Heger, Claudia Henkel and Francesco Compagno, Arno Hasenteufel, Andreas Hinder, Job Heykamp, Martin Kröger, Sebastian Klose, Bernd Keller, Hans-Peter Kaffiné, Keramikmuseum Westerwald (Westerwald Ceramic Museum), Eva Muellbauer and Franz Ruppert, Lars Magerkohl, Peter Meanly, Arthur Mueller, Mühlendyck Co., Gideon Necker, Alina Penninger, Jens-Peter Planke, Daniela Polz, Achim Rech, Fritz Rossmann, Cordula Repenning, Kyra Spieker and Gerhard Tattko, Armin Skirde, Cornelius Weiss.
Sponsors:
Helge Articus, Guntram Böckling, Calliope Co., Dr. Ludwig Co., Staatliche Fachschulen für Keramik (State Polytechnic Colleges for Ceramics), Helfrich Co., municipality of Höhr-Grenzhausen, Institute of Ceramic and Glass Arts (IKKG), Reinhard Kober, Bernd Keller, Wolf Matthes, Mühlendyck Co., Christian Reuter, Refko Feuerfest Co., Buchhandlung Reuffel (Reuffel Bookshop), Steuler Co., Witgert Co., Weyer Co., Mathias Waldeck.
|  |
| |
