East Meets West

At the Munich Residence you will find some of the best of oriental and European porcelain. What is the connection between the two? Porcelain was produced in China ever since the 10th century, but was exported throughout Europe and in the 17th century was perfected throughout much of Germany. It was at that time a production facility was built specifically for this purpose at Neudeck Castle, which was in the then suburb of Au, and then eventually moved to the northern section of the crescent in front of Nymphenburg Palace, where it still stands todays. The energy-generating and transmission plants are today regarded as engineering monuments, which nevertheless are up-to-date and function extremely well. The historical three-storey round kiln is still in working order. The factory is owned by the Bavarian State and is today run by the family foundation, the Wittelsbach Equalisation Fund. It is usually not available to the public, but I understand the manufacture offers every Wednesday at 10 a.m. a guided tour through the studio at a price of € 25. Call 179197-0, an early reservation is recommended as the number of participants is strictly limited.