"No people live longer than the documents of their culture"
--Karl Diebitsch 1939. Berlin

Upon opening a new showroom in Berlin in April of 1939 Karl Diebitsch took these words and applied them to what would come to be known as Allach porcelain, a venture taken upon by what would be referred to as the 1000 year Reich, in just 6 short years from this time the 1000 year Reich would be destroyed in a mere 11 years, leaving historians and collectors to trudge through a massive study of what has to be the most significant era of modern history. To try and understand this era and their desires to understand it and its attraction is a complex issue for many, and more so for the people who try and understand what compels an individual collector to dedicate his lifetime to acquiring pieces from this dark time. The failure to understand or to try and comprehend the drive of a collector and the love of the history and the hobby pertaining to the 3rd Reich is a failure to one's self and is more of a danger than the enthusiast who seeks to find some form of understanding in its complexities of human nature and its social significance at the time.

In the 3 short years prior to this quote Prof. Karl Diebitsch a noted artist and designer was summoned to take on a project with the intent of taking German culture to a new level, a level which would be designed to leave a testament of a culture for generations to come and to be judged by its greatness in both the form of art and the values of its people.

A small private enterprise was now the target of Heinrich Himmler, founded in 1935 Allach became an avenue for which Himmler would put forth a product that encompassed all that was good in German culture and its purity, it has become a stunning reflection of just that. All one has to do is pick up one of these figures and he will soon realize that the goal as put forth by Himmler has succeed in its original intent, it is no doubt a testament of greatness whether regarded as good or evil by its handler.

Karl Diebitsch born in 1899 would lead this venture as director under Himmler and it would produce figures for presentation as well as commercial sales to the people, it would be a great undertaking. The quality and manufacture would surpass by design and technique all previous endeavors by German porcelain manufacturers, the founders and manufacturers of the finest porcelain for hundreds of years gone by. This project would know no bounds and would be the greatest produced, it was the will of the Reichsfuhrer so it shall be.

In the year 1936 at a cost of 45,000 Reich marks, Allach Porcelain was on its way and the first commercial catalog was produced. This catalog unlike most that can be viewed only contained 40 pieces and was done in photographic print form with a corresponding price list. Given that the first 40 piece's contained many commercial pieces the initial intent of the program had not yet come into play, the presentations. In the first year the factory had lost approximately 90% of it initial capitol as a startup up company and some of these losses could no doubt be attributed to Himmler's gifting of pieces to friends and dignitaries.

Many of the most skilled craftsmen were bought in to over see production, these people were selected to be part of one of the greatest projects to advance German artistic superiority, they included the famous Prof. Karner, Forster, Obermeier, Wagenfeld, Pagels, Nagy, Diebitsch, Rohring, Krieger, Thorak, Fichter, and many others in various capacities. The deck was no doubt stacked.

1937 no doubt opened the door to what would be some of the finest presentation pieces, these no doubt included the Standard Bearer, the Pilot, Fleiger officer and the Hitler Youth drummer for starters, these pieces were not available for public sale and were meant for presentation. I am unsure of how many models were available in 1937 as I have not had access to the catalog. However period publications show many of these presentations being presented to recipients. One of the main publications where these can be found was Das Schwarz Korps. These publications show presentations of numbered pieces such as the Standard Bearer and unnumbered pieces such as plates, plaques, and plaquettes. The function of the factory as initially contrived had begun in full swing.

In the same year the plant was transferred to a larger facility in the town of Allach, outside Dachau concentration camp and at this point no forced labor is noted that I am aware of. However production was no doubt increased. It is noted in the Passmore/Oliver reference that at this time a second porcelain entity was acquired named Bohemia, this firm produced house wares and dinnerware type items. However I do not believe that this took place until 1939-1940 at least, although there may have been some technical assistance form employees or directors of Bohemia in place at an earlier time. The most likely time for the addition of Bohemia would be later due to the fact that Rosenthal had a stake in Bohemia and did not relinquish that stake until 1940, at which time they released their financial interest and the maker mark for Bohemia changed at this time to reflect the tell-tale sigrune within its marking. Bohemia was now part of the Reich economic concern.

In 1938 Allach porcelain was in full swing, their catalog contained 100 models in the 1938/39 catalog, the most common catalog to be found in reprint, on top of this many unnumbered dedication pieces had also been manufactured. Roughly 50% of all the Allach produced was for presentation and it was highly regarded on both a commercial and presentation basis.

Sometime in 1938-1939 another infamous but less known figure came into play, Oswald Pohl. This man had risen through the ranks and would be a key figure after WW1 in a lowly position of paymaster for the Freikorps. A technocrat and ardent National Socialist his rise was no doubt destined to place him in a position of power. His position at this time was Main Bureau for Administration and Economy, and Main Bureau for Budget and Construction, later these offices would be combined as SS Main Bureau for Economic Administration. These titles seem somewhat mundane, but the job description was much more interesting and involved organization of the camp systems, distribution of detainees for forced labor and the grueling task of funneling assets of conquered territories and the property of the victims of the camp systems into the banking systems.

Oswald Pohl's presence can be noted directly to Allach in 1939 with a signed Juhlfest card bearing his name, Juhlfest items such as plates were available in 2 variants, presentation and commercial sale. His dedication to the rear of commercial Juhlfest plates can be found in 42,43,and 44.

In 1940 we lose all production figures for Allach pieces nor has any catalog been noted by myself or one in existence that I am aware of, however the highest model number noted to date is 171. Which would mean they managed to introduce an additional 71 pieces over the course of the war as well as all the presentations, quite a feat and to this day whole blocks of models between #100 and 171 remain unknown. It would be interesting to see the production figures as these higher numbered figures are rare and with their introduction would have hindered production of the earlier numbered pieces driving down their production. A document in the early part of 1941/42 to the Reich's economic office states losses for both Allach and Bohemia and also makes mention of shortages of labor due to the war effort, yet they managed to produce 71 new models.

This can be due to the fact that in 1940 they moved and expanded and now had 2 separate factories the first was The Porcelain works under R. Dippe and The 2nd was the Ceramic works under H. Nagy. This would have allowed a more concentrated effort on the individual entities and allow forced labor to be added to pieces that required less skill to produce. It is also worthy to note that technical assistance from Bohemia in the form of a technical director Hechtfischer and Eleanor Von Bruning the future wife of Oswald Pohl were added. Mrs. Pohl was a skilled porcelain artisan.

Between the years of 1941-44 forced labor was used, the question remains how many, but production no doubt suffered due to the war and some commissioned pieces could not be produced in the later years for this very reason, regardless of who requested them.

Oswald Pohl was tried at Nuremburg and found guilty of crimes against humanity and being a member of a criminal organization as well as mass murder and sentenced to death, his execution was not carried out until 1951.

Today, Allach porcelain is sought after to such a degree that the market has soared and anyone who has had the pleasure of viewing the rare pieces or even handled a common piece can only agree that it is without question of the highest quality.

My first experience with it go's back 15 or 20 years when I was invited to a collectors home to see his collection, I had no clue at that time what I was in store for when I rang the bell that night. Upon entering this Germanic home, I was lead through corridors of bronze busts, painting's, and was overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the collection, as I was lead into the living area a large case containing porcelain figure's met my eye's. I had looked at it for quite some time and one particular figure caught my attention. It was the youth drummer and I asked to see it, the moment it was placed in my hand I knew I held greatness, it was a feeling I wont forget.

One cannot help but to look at period film of rally's and all of the pageantry celebrating years gone by, or even looked at the pagan rituals and artworks that were utilized in a combined sense of nationalism and propaganda and not be taken aback by the sheer genius of it all. It sucks you in and once you get the taste of it and look at it harder you can only walk away in awe. 

Allach porcelain is a document of a culture that came and went in just over a decade, but it is rooted in the hundreds of years of history that preceded it. It is very special and its a key factor of consideration when trying to understand the cultural significance of such a dark era.

Introduction to Allach