The Zschopenthal Blue Colour Works (german: Blaufarbenwerk Zschopenthal) was a
paintworks
Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
in the
Ore Mountains that manufactured blue glass paste. It is located in the village of
Zschopenthal in the parish of
Grünhainichen
Grünhainichen is a municipality in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. On 1 March 2009, Grünhainichen and the neighboring municipality Waldkirchen were merged. On 1 January 2015, the former municipality Borstendorf became part of ...
in the German state of
Saxony.
History
The paintworks at Zschopenthal had originally been founded in
Annaberg. Difficulties in obtaining firewood motivated the co-owner, ''Bergrat'' Caspar Sigismund von Berbisdorf, in 1684 to move it to Zschopenthal. Von Berbisdorf already owned an iron
hammer mill and the necessary real estate in Zschopenthal. In 1689 a metal hammer mill is recorded, that manufactured stove tops. In 1692, this mill moved to
Neunzehnhain.
In 1687 the works began manufacturing blue cobalt colour paste, used for painting
porcelain and
ceramic. According to tradition this was exported by von Berbisdorf to
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
. The paintworks had its own jurisdiction and also its own school.
In 1850 as a result of competition from
England and the introduction of coal-firing, the Zschopenthal factory was closed and the business merged with the
factory in Pfannenstiel.
The paintworks was run by three generations of the family of chemist,
Clemens Winkler: his great grandfather Christian Heinrich Winkler, grandfather (
August Fürchtegott Winkler
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
) and father (
Kurt Alexander Winkler
Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor.
In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...
).
In 1848 the Zschopau master weaver, Johann Gottlieb Wunderlich, bought the entire factory complex and built what was in its day a very modern weaving mill.
The buildings of the former paintworks have been very largely preserved and have been maintained for several years to some degree as an industrial monument.
The old industrial site consisted of the three-storey factory building with a
cross-vault on the ground floor, whose portal is marked with the year 1687, the
timber-framed building with turrets, bell and weather vane from 1719, the stables and the massive, two-story mansion with a
hip roof.
Today
The tradition of blue colourmen has been maintained for a number of years by a group known as the ''Hüttenknappschaft Zschopenthal'', part of the Waldkirchen Local History Society (''Heimatverein Waldkirchen'').
Sources
*
{{Authority control
Defunct companies of Germany
Mining in the Ore Mountains
History of the Ore Mountains