We quote: "The Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur Dresden GmbH (Saxon Porcelain Manufactory in Dresden Ltd), generally known in English as Dresden Porcelain (though that may also mean the much older and better-known Meissen porcelain), was a German company for the production of decorative and luxury porcelain. Founded in 1872, it was located in Potschappel, a suburb of the town of Freital in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district about 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Carl-Johann Gottlob Thieme (born 12 September 1823 in Niederjahna, died 18 March 1888 in Dresden) was a Hausmaler (a free-lance porcelain decorator). Thieme had been running his own porcelain studio and antique shop in the center of Dresden since 1864. He decided to manufacture his own porcelain and found a suitable plot of land at the gates of the city of Dresden in the industrial village of Potschappel. On September 17, 1872, Thieme's Gründerzeit factory (now a listed cultural heritage monument) started operations. From the beginning, white porcelain was not only sold to the Dresden free-lance decorators, but also across Europe. Likewise, not only self-made, but also purchased white porcelain were painted and sold there. The flower modeller Carl August Kuntzsch (1855–1920), a son-in-law of Thieme, played a key role in the company's success. With the "lush flower covering", he created a stylistic feature of Dresden porcelain. After Thieme's death, he took over the company and the economic success in 1912 enabled extensions to the production buildings, which have remained unaltered to this day.  The world wars and the global economic crises reduced exports and the number of employees fell from 300 in 1914 to less than 70 in 1932. Following the end of WWII when Dresden was in the territory administered and occupied by the Soviet Union, the former owners were forced out of the company in 1951. Since the Kuntzsch family had not been National Socialists, Emil Kuntzsch was prosecuted as an economic criminal by the East German state organs and fled to West Germany in 1951. The state participation in the company was gradually expanded. From 1972 the company traded as “VEB Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur Dresden; Headquarters Freital " and nationalization was fully completed. Aided by the pursuit in justice of imitators and forgers during the 1970s, the popularity of Dresden porcelain outside East Germany rose again into the 1980s. At that time, the Higher Munich State Court decided in favour of the Saxon Porcelain Manufactory Dresden that it alone was allowed to use the name Dresden Porcelain. By the end of the 1980s the number of employees was around 180."