30 years Porzellanikon - Half a life for the museum Wolfgang Schilling, Deputy Director of the Porzellanikon, in the museum for 30 years
Wolfgang Schilling, Head of the Department of Economic, Technical and Social History and Documentation at Porzellanikon, Europe's largest porcelain museum, celebrates his 30th anniversary on 18 June 2020. In 1990, the then 30-year-old historian, who had studied history, first took up a position as archivist and was responsible for setting up the Central Archive for the German Porcelain Industry (ZADP) of Porzellanikon. It is the second oldest, supraregional industry archive of this kind in Germany. The archive, opened in 1991, contains company records, estates, social history documents and image sources that provide a unique insight into the German, and especially the north-eastern Bavarian porcelain industry since the 19th century. It was a particular challenge to set up the archive, as it was important to collect as much archive material, model books, sample books, advertising material, personnel files, etc. as possible. The archive now comprises many linear metres of archive material. Company contacts had to be established, private persons had to be found, contacted and visited. An almost endless, hardly solvable task, which Wolfgang Schilling mastered with a lot of patience, expertise and diplomatic skill. Wolfgang Schilling's preferred means of transport were the bicycle and public transport, as he came from the bicycle city of Münster. Here in the Fichtelgebirge they would have been an odyssey. A car was needed to successfully complete the tasks.
The establishment and maintenance of Germany's second largest industry archive was an extraordinary achievement, especially since Wolfgang Schilling was also the permanent representative of founding director Wilhelm Siemen since 1997. In this function and meanwhile as chief curator for economic, technical and social history, he played a decisive role in the establishment of Porzellanikon Selb. Here Schilling scientifically developed and realised the permanent exhibitions on porcelain production, the painting of the manufactories and the life and work of the porcelain makers. As Chairman of the Technical Committee History of Ceramics of the German Ceramic Society, he is highly committed to communicating the importance of ceramics. He pursues the same interest with enthusiasm in the implementation of EU projects, in which Porzellanikon is usually the lead partner. It is not always an easy task to bring the most diverse international partners under one roof. This requires negotiating skills, patience and humour. These are all qualities which his colleagues attest him, even if at first glance his reserved appearance does not suggest it. They also appreciate his sympathy, his harmonious nature and the fact that he is almost unflappable.
Wolfgang Schilling is an enthusiastic and versatile museum expert. He has been working at Porzellanikon, the largest porcelain museum in Europe, for 30 years. In doing so, he proves time and again that he is prepared to work his way into new, even innovative, future-oriented topics. The new special exhibition "KUNST TRIFFT TECHNIK. Ceramics from the 3D printer" (11 July 2020 - 24 January 2021) is a good example of this.
Please send inquiries directly to:
Anna Dziwetzki
Direktorin, Porzellanikon – Staatliches Museum für Porzellan
Hohenberg a. d. Eger / Selb
Werner-Schürer-Platz 1
95100 Selb
Phone: +49 9287 91800-812
e-mail: direktion(at)porzellanikon.org
Wolfgang Schilling, Foto A. Giessler, Porzellanikon
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