Stiftung KERAMION

In Frechen in the Rhineland, the Keramion is devoted to presenting historical, modern and contemporary ceramics and serves as a specialized museum for ceramic objects. The distinctive building is a listed historic monument.

The building was erected for the 65th birthday of the stoneware manufacturer and collector Gottfried Cremer. Initially it served as a private gallery for storing and displaying his collection; it also hosted sales exhibitions, seminars, conferences, lectures and symposia. In 2002 Cremer’s private collection and the municipal collection of historic ceramics were merged into the Keramion Foundation. Since then the museum has organized rotating special exhibitions of modern and contemporary works as well as applied arts and design objects.

The architecture takes up the form of a potter’s wheel. The circular roof measures about 32 meters in diameter. Inside, five funnel-shaped columns support the roof structure; these continue into the basement as cylindrical columns. In the course of the foundation’s establishment the building was granted monument status.

The permanent exhibition on historic ceramics documents a section of Rhenish ceramic history. On display are, among other things, Pingsdorfer ware, Rhenish stoneware and earthenware from the Lower Rhine, as well as the well-known Frechen Bartmann jugs.

Another part of the holdings comprises the building and fine ceramics referred to as “Köln-Frechener” or “Ooms’sche Keramik,” produced in a special factory department between about 1919 and 1934 to designs by Cologne artists and sculptors.

Since the 1950s the Cremer collection has comprised around 5,000 unique ceramic works by over 500 artists from 35 countries. The emphasis is on German ceramics of the 20th century; at the same time numerous European ceramicists are represented. Vessels, freestanding sculptures, reliefs, pictorial panels and installations make up the spectrum.

Both the historic and the modern unique ceramics are continually expanded and shown in thematic special exhibitions. Every three years a local cultural foundation, in cooperation with the Keramion, awards the Frechen Ceramics Prize for young ceramicists; an expert jury selects about fifteen participants for the exhibition, and three winners receive cash prizes.