Meissen in the context of "Meissen porcelain"

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⭐ Core Definition: Meissen

Meissen (German: Meißen [ˈmaɪsn̩] ; Upper Sorbian: Mišno; Latin: Misnia, Misena) is a town of approximately 30,000 inhabitants, situated about 25 km (16 mi) north‑west of Dresden and 75 km (47 mi) west of Bautzen, on both banks of the River Elbe in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is renowned as the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral, and the Meissen Church of Our Lady [de]. The town of Meissen, designated as a Große Kreisstadt, serves as the administrative seat of the Meissen district.

In Germany, the name Meissen is the legally registered trademark of the State Porcelain Manufactory (Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH), while Meißen refers specifically to the city and municipality.

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👉 Meissen in the context of Meissen porcelain

Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and brought this type of porcelain to the market, financed by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. The production of porcelain in the royal factory at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish, arguably, the most famous porcelain manufacturer known throughout the world. Its signature logo, the crossed swords, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production; the mark of the swords is reportedly one of the oldest trademarks in existence.

Dresden porcelain (or "china") was once the usual term for these wares, until in 1975 the Oberlandesgericht (Higher Munich State Court) decided in favour of the Saxon Porcelain Manufactory Dresden, which alone was then allowed to use the name Dresden Porcelain (it ceased producing in 2020).

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Meissen in the context of Dresden

Dresden (/ˈdrɛzdən/; German: [ˈdʁeːsdn̩] ; Upper Saxon: Dräsdn; Upper Sorbian: Drježdźany, pronounced [ˈdʁʲɛʒdʒanɨ]) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area (after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne), and the third-most populous city in the area of former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg, and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has over 1.3 million inhabitants.

Dresden is the second largest city on the River Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in the Elbe Valley, but a large, albeit very sparsely populated, area of the city east of the Elbe lies in the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of the Sudetes) and thus in Lusatia. Many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in the Ore Mountain Foreland, as well as in the valleys of the rivers rising there and flowing through Dresden, the longest of which are the Weißeritz and the Lockwitzbach. The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are of Sorbian origin.

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Meissen in the context of Dehua porcelain

Dehua porcelain (Chinese: 德化陶瓷; pinyin: Déhuà Táocí; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tek-hòe hûi), more traditionally known in the West as Blanc de Chine (French for "White from China"), is a type of white Chinese porcelain, made at Dehua in the Fujian province. It has been produced from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the present day. Large quantities arrived in Europe as Chinese export porcelain in the early 18th century and it was copied at Meissen and elsewhere. It was also exported to Japan in large quantities. In 2021, the kilns of Dehua were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with many other sites near Quanzhou for their importance for medieval maritime trade and the exchange of cultures and ideas around the world.

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Meissen in the context of House of Wettin

The House of Wettin (German: Haus Wettin) is a dynasty which included Saxon kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.

The family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 by the Treaty of Leipzig: the Ernestine and Albertine branches. The older Ernestine branch played a key role during the Protestant Reformation. Many ruling monarchs outside Germany were later tied to its cadet branch, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Albertine branch, while less prominent, ruled most of Saxony and played a part in Polish history.

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Meissen in the context of Wurzen

Wurzen (German pronunciation: [ˈvʊʁtsn̩] ) is a town in the district Leipzig Land (voting) and Muldental (number plates), in Saxony, Germany. It is situated next to the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line via Riesa to Dresden.

It has a cathedral dating from the twelfth century, a castle, at one time a residence of the bishops of Meissen and later utilized as law courts, several schools, an agricultural college and a police station including a prison.

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Meissen in the context of Carlo Ginori

Marchese Carlo Ginori (1702–1757) was an Italian politician of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the founder of the Doccia porcelain factory in Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, Italy. He pioneered the development of porcelain production, contemporary with Meissen, in mid-eighteenth-century Europe. Ginori's porcelain was collected by Medicis and most of the nobility of Europe. Napoleon's wife, Marie Louise of Austria, ordered an enormous service set that survives to this day.

The 16th century passion for oriental pottery, which was imported into Europe at great expense, and affordable only by a few of the very wealthiest families, led the Medicis to found the first European porcelain factory in Florence. That short lived venture was followed in 1737 with the founding of Ginori factory at Doccia.

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Meissen in the context of Moritzburg, Saxony

Moritzburg (German pronunciation: [ˈmoːʁɪtsˌbʊʁk]) is a municipality in the district of Meissen in Saxony, Germany, between Meissen itself, an early centre of Saxony, and today's capital Dresden. It is most famous for its Baroque castle, Schloss Moritzburg.

The village, which was originally known as Eisenburg, was first mentioned in 1294. It became a market in 1675. The Saxon state stud has been located here since 1828. In 1884, a narrow-gauge railway, the Radebeul–Radeburg line, was built connecting the town to the district capital Radebeul and Radeburg. It was renamed Moritzburg, after the nearby castle, in 1934. German artist Käthe Kollwitz lived at the invitation of Prince Ernst Heinrich von Wettin in the Rüdenhof in Moritzburg from 1944 until her death on 22 April 1945. In 1995, a small museum was opened in the Rüdenhof.

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Meissen in the context of Albrechtsburg

The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic castle erected from 1471 till about 1495. It is located in the town centre of Meissen in the German state of Saxony. It is situated on a hill above the river Elbe, adjacent to the Meissen Cathedral.

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Meissen in the context of Meissen Cathedral

Meissen Cathedral or the Church of St John and St Donatus (German: Meißner Dom) is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle and forms a critical centrepiece of the iconic Meissen skyline overlooking the River Elbe in the valley below.

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