Wilhelmsburg

Wilhelmsburg, Austro-Hungary. now Austria

Hersteller / Manufacturer.

Heinrich and Leopold Lichtenstern purchased the company in 1883. Richard Lichtenstern took over in 1895, aged 16, upon the death of his father Heinrich. The Wilhelmsburg factory purchased Rudolf Ditmar in 1910 and merged it with Brothers Urbach of Teplitz-Turn, Austro-Hungary (now Teplice-Trnovony, Czech Republic) making it one on the largest porcelain factories in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was in production for 200 years. In 1913, the companies were purchased by Triptis A.G, (The same company that purchased Wicke-Werke in the 1920's). However the factory again became independent, when the factory was confiscated by the newly founded state of Czechoslovakia in 1919 and operated as Wilhemsberger Earthenware Factory Richard Lichtenstern & Co. under its previous owner, Richard Lichtenstern.  In turn it was again confiscated by the Austrian Government, as part of the Anschluss in 1938, to become Ostmark-Ceramics A.G. and subsequently nationalised in 1945. In 1947 Richard's son Kurt, who had emigrated to the U.S. and changed his name to Conrad H. Lester, took back the company and changed its name to ÖSPAG (Österreichische Sanitär-, Keramik- und Porzellan-Industrie AG). This was eventually taken over in 1967 by the Keramik Holding Laufen, which is now part of the ROCA group. Gebrüder Horn has also ended up in this grouping. The original Wilhelmsburg factory is now tableware museum

References; WT-Pempel  BodenMarken. Geschirr-Museum