Biography

August Hanke (Höhr 1876 - 1938 Höhr) After the early death of the father and company founder Reinhold Hanke (1840-1886) in Höhr in the Westerwald, the widow Maria Josefa continued to run the stoneware pottery until the brothers Carl (1873-1908) and August were able to act as commercial and artistic directors to take over the company.

August had completed a degree in chemistry in Munich and attended the School of Applied Arts. At the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, where the R. Hanke company presented its "old German" goods, he was fascinated by the new Art Nouveau trend and he got to know the glazing techniques from France and Japan. When he took over the artistic direction of the company in 1901, he began to experiment with reduction firing himself. His copper red ("China red") and "Titanium blue" remained unrivaled in quality for a long time. He also succeeded in getting contemporary artists such as Henry van de Velde, Peter Behrens and Albin Müller to collaborate and to modernize the company's repertoire accordingly. From 1902 August also designed his own ceramics, which were strongly based on Velde's works. 1911/12 -18 the workshops Hanke, R. Merkelbach and S. P. Gerz merged to form the Steinzeugwerke Höhr-Grenzhausen GmbH. As a member of the German Werkbund, many works bear the DW stamp. During the First World War the company suffered some losses, but the worst blow came when the factory was destroyed by fire in 1921. After that, it could only be continued to a fraction of its former extent. The company finally closed its doors when August Hanke died in 1938.