Born of fire: The pursuit of the ‘white gold’

Abstract

AbstractFor more than 300 years, scores of historians and researchers have vigorously argued about the question who might have been the genuine inventor of European porcelain of Meissen fame: Johann Friedrich Böttger or Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. Although the story of the invention of porcelain has been told countless times, the exact circumstances of its discovery are still shrouded in mystery. For a very long time the palm has been awarded to Böttger, but today, the scale is increasingly tilting toward Tschirnhaus. In this contribution, ancient letters and laboratory notes, and modern phase diagrams and microstructural investigation are being used to paint a picture of royal desire, efficient research organization, arduous labor, ingenious reasoning, but also treason, camouflage, bald lies, and perfidy.