Landsberg – The attraction that emanates from the extremely versatile handicraft of pottery is unbroken. After the Corona break, interest in handmade exhibits seems to have increased even further. At least that’s what the rush of visitors at the 45th South German Pottery Market in the heart of Landsberg suggests. Where you used to be able to stroll comfortably between the stands along the St.-Laurent-du-Var-Promenade, there was sometimes quite a crowd last weekend.
41 ceramic artists, mainly from southern Germany, but also from Berlin, Offenbach am Main or Esslingen as well as from Austria, France and Hungary, set up their sales stands between the mother tower and the rushing Lech weir. Under shady trees with a view of the historic old town, an ideal environment to give your objects an appropriate appearance. Strict criteria of professionalism and quality are the benchmark for participation in Landsberg. In times of arbitrariness and impersonal mass-produced goods, the city, as the organiser, attaches great importance to real handwork from small workshops and family businesses.
Mayor Doris Baumgartl was also able to convince herself of this. As a jury member for the Adam Vogt Prize, which is awarded every year, she completed her first tour right after the opening of the market. Eleven potters had applied for the 500 euro prize. In addition to Baumgartl, the jury included City Councilor Markus Salzinger, Head of Culture Claudia Weißbrodt, City Home Secretary Stefan Paulus and Silvia Großkopf from the Association of Visual Artists.
Bowl with gold decoration
After a brief consultation, the decision was made in favor of Jürgen Kretzschmar (64) from Beuren-Balzholz in the Esslingen district. He is a trained art ceramist, master craftsman for building ceramics and has been running his own workshop since 1985. He received the Adam Vogt Prize for his “turned ceramic bowl, covered with materials, structured by river sand and polarized with gold decoration as a contrast.”
–Kretzschmar is a ceramist with body and soul, loves “the creative, manual handling of clay, where works are formed in harmony between hand and spirit as they have been for thousands of years.” Just like the namesake Adam Vogt did, a stove maker and art potter who lived in the lived and worked in fabrics in the 17th century. His best-known works include the two magnificent stoves in the town hall of Augsburg.
As Mayor Baumgartl emphasized, what she likes about the variety of goods on offer is that the attention to detail and the sense of aesthetics blur the boundaries between art and craft. This is probably less true for household and garden ceramics, but more so for artistic figurines, noble vessels, decorative objects or jewellery. Everything was offered in Landsberg, from rustic and robust to noble and filigree.
Heroine Mug
The dotted mug and bowl creations that Birgit Palt from Offenbach presented in a matching dress and with the appropriate portion of mischief were particularly striking. Branded sayings like “love now” or “superheroine” tempted many a cavalier to make a spontaneous purchase. She came up with the heroine series during the Corona crisis because the women here had mastered an incredible amount with jobs, working from home and home schooling or caring for relatives.
The offer from Thomas Müller from Limburg was exceptional. He doesn’t score goals like his namesake, but produces deceptively real mushrooms that shoot out of the ground. As a craftsman, it is important to him to arouse interest in nature and ecological relationships. With his ceramic jewelery he wants to capture and preserve the beauty and diversity of mushrooms. Provided with ground spikes, the mushrooms can be “planted” as decoration in the home garden.
–No pottery market without a supporting program. Thomas Benirschke showed the basics of pottery with his magic potter’s wheel. During the raku firing demonstrations, ceramics were heated to 1,000 degrees and then shock cooled, resulting in the typical raku surface. Children were shown how to form a small work of art from a lump of clay. Of course, they were allowed to take their own pottery home with them.
The Windach musicians and the “12th Street Jazz Connection” from Landsberg provided the musical atmosphere. For the small hunger in between, there were white sausages, fish rolls, Schupfnudeln or “stripped kitchen utensils”. All in all, the 45th South German Pottery Market proved to be the perfect calling card for the city.
–
