Beauty Under the Sign of the SS Runes

Source: SS Leitheft No. 2a, 1941

 

Allach, tasks and purpose

 

No people lives longer than the documents of its culture!

 

The Führer’s words are a point of reference for all cultural matters concerning the German people and they govern the spirit of the Allach Porcelain Factory in Munich.

 

Many people will ask why the SS produces porcelain. The explanation is simple. The Reichsführer had already planned for a long time to intensify the SS spirit of cultural work, which was not really possible until after he took power. In 1935, he therefore founded the Allach Porcelain Factory in Munich, the main instrument of his will in this field.

 

For the Reichsführer, it was not a question of founding a new porcelain factory with the aim of producing economic value – i.e. to make money. From the outset, Allach’s primary task was to use the most attractive material available, porcelain, to create artistic works of art and objects for everyday use that would reflect the spirit of the times and bear witness to the artistic feeling and creative will of our time for generations to come.

 

Each era produces its own forms of expression and adapts them to its cultural style. The same applies to our own. With the Führer’s large-scale constructions, we are witnessing the birth of a new style – our style – whose decorative art also includes the development of new ceramic forms.

 

In this spirit, the Reichsführer SS charged Allach with setting an example in artistic creation, in the quality of the material, in execution and workmanship, and in pricing.

 

A retrospective can show what the spirit of porcelain production was: In the past, almost all porcelain factories were founded by princes (Berlin by Frederick the Great, Meißen by Augustus the Strong, Sevres by the Marquise de Pompadour, to name but a few). With a few exceptions, their mission was to produce noble porcelain of great artistic value for the glory of their founders, disregarding any economic benefits. Great artists were hired and were able to carry out their projects in peace and seclusion, free from all material worries. The result was wonderful porcelain that reflected the spirit of the age, the Rococo and the Empire – artistic works that have always retained their value and deserve the greatest admiration because they express the artistic feeling of their creators.

 

Single copies and mass-produced items

 

But times change. For almost all porcelain factories (note the significant name “manufacture” [manu= with the hand], whose work still today requires the artistic hand of man), financial and economic issues became increasingly important. Soon profit was the decisive factor. Patrons of the arts and princely commission agents gave way to merchants. All too often, art was considered to be of little value. In this period of artistic decline, a few renowned manufactures managed to remain true to their spirit.

 

 

Aryanity as a representative of a certain type of values becomes the absolute reference in art. Porcelain from the SS factory in Allach.

 

 

Different porcelains from Allach: At the top is a vase with protohistoric motifs. Below that is a candlestick that was given to every child born to SS families.

 

Amazon.

 

First, there is sculpture. It often gave rise to domestic horrors due to a lack of artistic spirit or sloppy workmanship. Allach therefore saw his first task as helping to bring the true national artistic sense to life. To be honest, this was not easy and not all projects could yet be realised. First of all, artists had to be found and hired who would create artistic works with their inspirational genius and creative talent.

 

But the Reichsführer said: Art must be present in every house, but above all in the house of my SSI Every table must be furnished with elegant dishes, not only in the living quarters but also – and primarily – in the canteens, so that the German worker and the combatant can draw new strength from the harmony of their surroundings in their hours of rest. There is no doubt that the simplest dish in a beautiful dish tastes better than the most expensive roast in a canteen! Allach wants to serve the Reichsführer’s plan as well as possible.

 

In the few years since the Allach factory was founded, it has acquired a privileged position in the field of porcelain production. Figures of heroic young men from the Wehrmacht or party associations, astonishingly authentic peasant folk figures and, above all, noble animal sculptures which show the animal in all its beauty, were produced with our present-day sensitivity. These are works that must be seen as evidence of a naturally strong artistic feeling and a creative will aware of its duty.

 

Ceramics, jugs, vases, candlesticks contain a beauty that benefits every German household. Thus, the Reichsführer SS’s aim that every utilitarian object – even the simplest water jug – should be of impeccable beauty was magnificently achieved. The great cultural treasures discovered in numerous excavations provided inspiration for design and decoration translated into the style of our time. A bridge was thus built, linking the natural creations of our ancestors with the artistic feeling of today.

 

Utilitarian objects were created – and will be created – which already sweep away all criticism by their beauty and utility. In the course of time, all the ugly and unsuitable forms will have to be eliminated and replaced by beautiful and utilitarian tableware.

 

Aware of the fact that the environment has an enormous influence on human well-being and attitude, the Reichsführer ordered his porcelain factory in Allach to act in this spirit. The home of every SS man, or simply of every German, should contain only artistic objects and tableware of the best taste. In this way, Allach offers the man working in his daily environment the beauty that regenerates him and makes him worthy of the great tasks given to him by our heroic age. 

W.