Ursula Fesca is the woman who brought the Bauhaus style to the Wächtersbach stoneware factory early on.

In doing so, the artist consolidated the worldwide reputation of the Brachttal-based company, which was founded in 1832 and has been considered a pioneer of contemporary art trends for decades, always with an individual appeal.

Before Fesca, only Christian Neureuther, the inventor of the legendary Wächtersbach Art Nouveau, had managed to do this.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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The person and the art of Fesca, which significantly shaped the ceramic style in Germany from around 1930 to the 1950s, is not easy to grasp.

The Brachttal Museum of the Museum and History Association in Brachttal-Spielberg is currently attempting to approach the designer, who was born in Brandenburg in 1900 and died in Brachttal-Schlierbach in 1975.

"She must have been a great personality.

To this day it is popular and unforgettable among the older people in Schlierbach,” says Ulrich Berting, deputy chairman of the association and curator of the exhibition.

In the past few weeks he has immersed himself deeply in the world of Ursula Fesca, viewed large parts of her artistic and personal estate as well as the design portfolios with hundreds of originals.

Association member and graphic artist Beate Trautmann designed the wall panels that document the life of Ursula Fesca.

Open-minded and assertive

Not only ceramic objects can be seen, but also photos from her life and private drawings for greeting cards that Fesca sent during her time in Schlierbach.

The exhibition organizers were able to find many of the postcards drawn in the style of Wilhelm Busch in local households and put them together into a collage.

“People kept it for decades because they valued Ursula Fesca and the cards were something very special and individual,” says Trautmann.

The photos show the designer in a private context or at work as a friendly, open-minded woman.

But she must also have had assertiveness, otherwise her success in the society of the time would have been unthinkable.

The exhibition "Ursula Fesca and her time in Schlierbach" focuses primarily on the vases, decorative plates, teapots, service and many other ceramic objects that Fesca designed for the Wächtersbach ceramics and that were often produced there in large numbers.

Lenders included the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Thüringen and many private collectors.

A number of exhibits come from the museum's holdings and an extensive donation from the collector Ute Kress from Kassel.

In showcases, the exhibition draws the chronological line of Fesca's creativity since the beginning of the artist at the Wächtersbacher.

Influences from fellow artists are also shown.

The Bauhaus artist Christian Dell submitted a design for tableware early on, which was also manufactured.

Dell is considered the creator of the well-known black desk lamp, which can still be found in this form on many desks today.

After studying in Dresden and Berlin and first working years in Dutch and German stoneware factories, Fesca came to Schlierbach as a designer at a time when Wächtersbacher ceramics had already made an international name for itself.