Kähler Design
Artists and craftsmen
It has now been fully 175 years since the first Kähler vase was turned at the little pottery workshop in Næstved. It was the beginning of an unique design adventure that would leave its mark on the world. Kähler's ceramics made an impression at the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris - at which the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated.
The historic Kähler workshop was a meeting place for many of the very greatest Danish artist, such as Thorvald Bindesbøll, Svend Hammershøi and Kai Nielsen.
Generations of innovative craftsmen - The Kähler Family
The story about Kähler began in 1839, when the Holstein potter Herman J. Kähler opened a small ceramics workshop in the city of Næstved. However, it was not until his son, Herman A. Kähler, took over the workshop in 1875 that the ceramics adventure gathered speed. With production of international art ceramics, the foundation was laid for one of the great success stories in Danish ceramics.
With handicraft experience passed down from generation to generation and great insight into the versatile moulding potential of clay, Kähler has now been at the cutting edge of Danish ceramic art for more than 175 years
The great women painters - The ceramic painters
Many talented ceramic painters have been affiliated with the historic Kähler workshop, including a number of women who played an important role. However, the products were always released with only the renowned HAK-signature in the bottom.
The story about - The HAK logo
The initials HAK stand for Herman A. Kähler (1846 - 1917), an ambitious, enthusiastic and inventive man, who was the declared favourite son of the founding father.
After a period of training with H.W. Bissen and traveling around Europe, which invariably formed part of an artist's education in the late nineteenth century, he returned to build Kählersbakken. It was to become a historic workshop and an important cultural centre in its day.
Herman Kähler was the artistic leader of the workshop, where Thorvald Bindesbøll, Karl Hansen Reistrup, L.A. Ring and Svend Hammershøi would meet. In his honour, his initials appeared from 1872 on the bottom of many artistic ceramic pieces. In 1913, Svend Hammershøi designed a monogram seal from the letters H-A-K, and from then on the well-known HAK became the obligatory logo on the base of Kähler pieces.
