
The Kannenbäckerland (; 'potters' land', ) is a
cultural landscape
Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the c ...
in central
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, which extends from
Wirges in the
Westerwald
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...
hills to
Bendorf
Bendorf () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Koblenz.
Structure of the town
The town consists of the following districts:
*Bendorf
*Sayn
*Mülhofen
*St ...
and
Vallendar
Vallendar () is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipa ...
in the
Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...
valley. The Kannenbäckerland owes its name to the fact that, in this region, the largest
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
deposit in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
was found and, since the 16th century, has been used to make the well-known grey and blue
Westerwald Pottery.
Formation
In addition to pot making and, especially in
Hilgert pipe making for the production of the clay,
tobacco pipes which were once common, pottery craftsmanship and training have also been concentrated in the Kannenbäckerland. Since 1879,
Höhr-Grenzhausen
Höhr-Grenzhausen () is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a centre for the ceramic industry in the Kannenbäckerland with a professional college for ceramics, another for ceramic form, and many others, hence th ...
has been home to the College of Ceramics, which later became part of the Ceramics Department of the
Koblenz University of Applied Sciences
Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Koblenz, formerly known as Fachhochschule Koblenz or FH Koblenz) is a public university in Rhineland-Palatinate. Although the present university was established in 1996, it has a rich trad ...
. Its training comprises eight terms and it awards a diploma in materials engineering, glass and ceramics.
In addition to the University of Applied Sciences, six other specialist institutions joined forces in the Education and Research Centre for Ceramics (BFZK) and offer a competence network for ceramics that is unique in the world. This also led to the organization of the special exhibition "Ceramics - Material of the Future" at the
World Exhibition for
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...
in
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
, which was organized by the BFZK. The BFZK includes, among others, the new business centre of CeraTech for ceramic technologies and materials, the Glass and Ceramics Research Institute, the Institute for Artistic Ceramics and Glass, various educational institutions and, of course, the
Westerwald Pottery Museum.
Locations

The main sites of the clay industry developed from the main extraction areas near Wirges and down to the Rhine. Clay was extracted in Wirges, worked in the western districts of
Höhr-Grenzhausen
Höhr-Grenzhausen () is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a centre for the ceramic industry in the Kannenbäckerland with a professional college for ceramics, another for ceramic form, and many others, hence th ...
and
Ransbach-Baumbach and stored on the Rhine near
Bendorf
Bendorf () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Koblenz.
Structure of the town
The town consists of the following districts:
*Bendorf
*Sayn
*Mülhofen
*St ...
and
Vallendar
Vallendar () is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipa ...
for transportation to the markets. Other well known sites in the Kannenbäckerland are
Bannberscheid,
Ebernhahn,
Hillscheid,
Hilgert,
Hundsdorf,
Leuterod,
Mogendorf,
Moschheim,
Nauort,
Ötzingen,
Sessenbach,
Siershahn and
Staudt.
History
The Kannenbäckerland was described as such in the late 18th century, although the records show that pottery had been continuously made here since at least 1402. The surrounding regions and areas referred to the occupation of potter (normally ''Töpfer'' in German) either as ''Dippemacher'' (in Hessian) ''Döppesbäcker'' (in the area of Cologne) or ''Töpfer'' and ''Hafner'' (in the Palatine dialect). They were only called ''Kannenbäcker'' (or ''Kannebäcker'') in a relatively small area south of Cologne and in the southern Westerwald. Traditionally the "Kannebäckerland" supplied the
Frankfurt region upstream on the Rhine with
Apfelwein
''Apfelwein'' (; ), or ''Viez'' (, Moselfranken, Saarland, Trier; ) or ''Most'' (, Austria, Switzerland, South Germany; ) are German words for cider. It is made from various kinds of sour tasting apples (such as "Bohnapfel"). It has an alcoho ...
''Bembel'', a grey earthenware jug with bule decoration for serving apple cider. Down the Rhine in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, clay pots in the classic blue décor were known as ''Keulse pot'' ("Cologne Pots").
[ :nl:Keulse pot] The Mosellen vintners, when working in the vineyard, had their daily wine or ''Fluppes'' ration in brown ''Bimmes'' (see photograph).
Tourism
Due to its location between the
Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...
valley in the west and the
Westerwald
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...
in the east, the
Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park in the north and the
Nassau Nature Park in the south, the Kannenbäckerland is a very good destination for active holidaymakers. Numerous footpaths and trails, such as the Brexbach Gorge Way ("Wäller Tour") and the geo trail near Nauort, a large
Nordic walking
Nordic walking is a Finland, Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles sim ...
park and well-surfaced cycleways run through the region.
Among the most popular destinations in the Kannenbäckerland are the castle of
Schloss Sayn with its butterfly garden in two breeding houses, the
Brexbach valley, der
Limes Tower and the
Roman fortlet in Hillscheid, the
Westerwald Pottery Museum, and the annual ''Europ'' pottery markets in Höhr-Grenzhausen and Ransbach-Baumbach.
Footnotes and references
Literature
* Ulrich Fliess: ''Volkskundliche Abteilung.'' Exhibition catalogue of the
Historisches Museum Hannover
() is an historical museum situated in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The museum was founded in 1903 as the Homeland Museum of the City of Hanover (). Its collections are related to the Timeline of Hanover, history of the city, ...
, 1972. pp. 99–102: „Westerwälder Steinzeug“ und „Wandvitrine 142“ nebst Tafel 15.
External links
Documentation centre, Kannenbäckerland
Regions of Rhineland-Palatinate
Regions of the Westerwald
Cultural landscapes of Germany
Westerwaldkreis
Mayen-Koblenz
Stoneware
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