Meissen: World-Renowned Porcelain and Germany's Oldest Castle | Hannah Hummel on Tour in Saxony

Hi there, I'm en route to Meissen, Saxony's secret capital. At least that's what the people here like to call it. I'll be taking a trip back in time to see what Germany's oldest castle used to be like. I'm also on the search for fine china, so I'll be visiting the famous Meissen porcelain manufacturer. And of course, I'll be checking out the highlights of this beautiful city near Dresden along the way. So let's go. Wow, that looks truly majestic. I'm gonna go and take a closer look. Surrounded by vineyards, the city of Meissen is home to just under 30,000 people. Even from afar, Albrechtsburg Castle and the cathedral catch your eye. Both sit on a hill high above the river Elbe. I drive through the medieval gatehouse, ready for my first appointment. Albrechtsburg Castle is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. Welcome to Meissen-Albrechtsburg Castle. In terms of history, this is the most significant place in the state of Saxony. The story here began in the year 929. King Henry I of Germany captured this hill and built a fortress. In the course of history, the building was developed further. We're standing in Germany's first castle, built in 1471 by Arnold von Westphalen. To help me imagine what castle life was like back then, Wovenmichel shows me the Histopad. It's an interactive tablet that allows me to step back into the 15th century with the help of augmented reality and historical reconstructions in 3D. This magnificent room was once the Banqueting Hall. The Banqueting Hall was where the feasts were served. And where the royal household ate. The Histopad recreates that. We can see precisely what they ate. That's right, and in what order the various courses were eaten. It's all been researched. So you can see the various specialties of the time. Squirrel was a particular highlight. Whoa, why? I've never tried it, so I couldn't tell you. Me neither. We head up a floor to learn about another chapter in the castle's history. Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, commissioned alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger to create pure gold. Böttger didn't quite manage to do that, but he did help to invent what was known at the time as white gold, European porcelain. And in 1710, the castle was transformed into Europe's first porcelain manufacturer. Wow, I can actually see exactly what it used to look like here in the manufacturer where they all worked. For the next 153 years, Albrechtsburg Castle was basically a factory, the production site of the famous Meissen porcelain. Why was the castle used to manufacture the porcelain? Here we can see the Albrechtsburg Castle on top of the fortress's hill. Its location meant it could be ideally protected from the outside world. There was a gate here where you could monitor who was coming into the factory. And there were these watch stations, all to ensure that the formula for making porcelain was kept secret for as long as possible. I explore a few more of the castle's secrets, traveling further back in time. And you can even take a selfie to see what you used to look like back in the day. Allow me to introduce Lady of the Castle, Hanna von Hummel. That was so interesting, I've never done a trip back in time like that before. The next part of my journey takes me through Meissen's old town. Meissen is famous for its long, winding alleyways, much better explored by foot. So I'm afraid you can't come with me. To learn more about Meissen, I've arranged to meet a local tour guide. Eva Zaschke has brought me a local pastry called a Fummel. The Meissen Fummel was invented when Meissen began manufacturing porcelain. Augustus the Strong, who was a lecturer at the time, had opened the porcelain factory at Albrechtsburg Castle. But it was a bumpy start. The china produced wasn't very good, so he regularly sent messengers to Meissen, from his residence in Dresden, to check up on things at the factory and to bring back samples. They were supposed to ride straight back to Dresden. But Augustus had no luck with his messengers. After going to the factory, they'd end up at a local tavern, and by the time they got back to Dresden, they'd forgotten what they had to report. Oh no! And the porcelain samples were broken. So Augustus gave orders to the baker's guild in Meissen to produce a pastry that was so light and fragile that it could only be brought home intact by someone who was sober. And that's now my task. To carry the Meissen Fummel around the city without breaking it. I heard that Meissen is known as Saxony's secret or historical capital. Why is that? That dates back a long way. In the 10th century, this was Slavic territory. It was then conquered by the German King Henry I. And Meissen became the capital, as far as you can talk about a capital in those early days. That lasted till about 1500, and then the government was moved to Dresden. Eva shows me the town hall, which dates back to the 15th century. The huge roof structure is divided into five stories. A building designed to impress. These integrated seats were once a popular place for locals to stop for a chat. To reach our next destination, we'll need to climb a lot of steps. Hopefully the Fummel will make it intact. Eva wants to show me something a bit special. So here we are. This is the alphabet stone. It's a simple monogrammed stone with the letters A, B, C and D. But with a little imagination, you can find the entire alphabet. I can already see the H, and my initials are HH. So that's perfect. Here. Easy. And if you also find your partner's initials and they're entwined with yours, you know all is well. Well, I'll keep that in mind. So thank you very much for the tour. And the Fummel is still intact. Wonderful. Thank you. Have a lovely day. Same to you. Tschüss. So now I'm going to see what this strange Fummel actually tastes like. Doesn't look too appetizing though. Yeah, I can see why it's not really eaten around the city, but it was a fun experience. I still have a little time before my next appointment to explore the surrounding area and enjoy a quick snack. I'm on my way to learn more about Meissen's biggest star, but first to practicalities. So my little friend here needs some juice, but I at least have enough energy to get me to my next destination. The Erlebniswelthaus Meissen will tell me everything I want to know about Meissen porcelain. The museum has 33,000 exhibits, but only a small portion can be displayed at a time, so the exhibition is changed regularly. Anja Hell shows me her favorite pieces and tells me about the early days of production, when German porcelain artists sought to emulate Chinese masters. At first they actually copied Asian porcelain, literally one-to-one, to practice and develop the necessary dexterity. It must have all been new. Exactly, they were working with a new material, and porcelain paste is a bit of a diva. They had to get a feel for it, to find out what shapes were possible and how it would behave when fired. Then you needed a glaze. That also became an important step on the path to success. It took a few years for the artisans in Meissen to develop their own European style. But soon the signature floral patterns began to emerge, along with battle scenes and hunting motifs. The porcelain gradually became more opulent. A breakthrough moment was this snowball blossom design. To this day, each blossom is shaped by hand. One of the most successful designs is known as the blue onion, though the name is something of a misnomer. These aren't actually onions. They're melons. You see here onion-like melons, and a peach, and every now and then a pomegranate. So why onion design? Because the artists didn't know what they were painting. These roots were common in Asia, but unknown in Saxony at the time. Ah, okay. So what's typical Meissen today? What's typical is that the work is done by hand, especially the painting, regardless of the actual design. Even sports shoes are painted by hand here. In 2020, these Adidas sneakers with porcelain overlays sold at auction for 126,000 US dollars. Now I want to see what goes on behind the scenes, so it's time to go to the factory. My tour starts in the archive of moulds. It boasts around 700,000 plaster moulds, and some are nearly 300 years old. It's the largest and oldest collection of its kind worldwide. Practically every piece of porcelain in Meissen's long history can be reproduced to precision thanks to these moulds. Today, the method used to make porcelain is no longer a state secret. One of the key ingredients is kaolin, a white clay mineral. This comes from the manufacturer's own mine, located nearby, and then goes through a purification process in large vats. Before the final porcelain paste is ready to be used, it first has to be dried for up to six months. The factory has countless different workstations, each with its own particular porcelain specialty. Around 450 people work at the manufacturer, which now belongs to the state of Saxony. I'm amazed by just how many pairs of hands have worked on each individual piece of porcelain. The crossed blue swords of Meissen are one of the oldest trademarks in the world. The creative heart of the manufacturer is the Meissen Atelier. This is where designer Lena Hensel works. So what's your role here? I'm a designer at the Meissen Atelier and lead the department for product development. Right now, I'm working on a new design called Giant Bloom. It's a very expressive and colourful design inspired by a vase. This Giant Bloom vase is a limited edition. It's only made to order and costs almost 50,000 euros. Lena has spent about a year and a half working on the new floral design, which is also available on cups, plates and saucers for a much lower price. Among other sources, she draws inspiration from classic Meissen motifs. There's an unbelievable wealth of material from which we can and should draw, because it's what defines Meissen. It's cultural heritage, if you like, which we are continuing in developing. All the designers here are young, so our involvement automatically transforms this heritage. Our designs are created for today's customers, who have certain tastes and wishes. Zhou Yu Hou also works at the Meissen Atelier. She's designed a series of vases, the forms of which echo the landscapes and wildlife found in Antarctica. She studied product design in Shanghai and has been working in Meissen since 2016. Antarctica is her first series. It was my inspiration for the Antarctica series. I find that the shape of a penguin's body and their silhouette and profile is very sweet. I began with just a rough sketch, where I imagined a whole family of penguins. Oh, yes, I can see. Exactly, so you have daddy penguin, mommy penguin, baby penguin and a brother as well. And you grew up in China. Yes, and that still influences my ideas. For example, these fish-mouth vases were inspired by Chinese artifacts. What I'd like is to add a modern touch, a new design language with asymmetrical shapes or soft and organic forms. When developing an idea, the porcelain designer always begins by making a clay model. Today, I can join in and attempt to mold my own small penguin vase. Zhou Yu shows me how it's done. She says she loves working with her hands. So what do you think? Am I a pro? Considering it's your first penguin vase, I think it's very good. It's a bit fat. Mine's even fatter. I wonder what it's like to live and work in Meissen if you grew up on the other side of the world. To find out more, I'm meeting a woman who moved here all the way from Australia. She now works in a local wine shop. Hey, Antje, right? Yeah. I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Antje Gieber has lived in Saxony for six years. So you moved here for love? Exactly. What's the story there? Well, the story is in Germany, in Australia, I had a restaurant and a girl from Meissen actually arrived there and asked me for a job and it ended up being a really beautiful friendship. And I ended up marrying her best friend. Wow, that's such a romantic story. Yes, very much so. But the story is that we met in Austria, in Salzburg, while we were visiting her. She lives there now. Okay. And we'd only known each other for four days. Yeah. And I said, right, well, what are we going to do now? So you picked up and you moved your whole life to Germany after knowing this guy for four days? I know, it's crazy. It's absolutely crazy. I hope it was worth it. Absolutely, yes, I can recommend it to anyone. Did you guys get married straight away? No, no, no, it took a couple of years because Meisseners aren't that spontaneous. Well, I mean, come on, you'd moved across the continent for him. Like, marry me. But you felt like you settled in here nicely then? Absolutely, yeah. You built a good life here for yourself. I really do think so. That was easy to do because people in Meissen are just really welcoming. And they're really down to earth and quite humble and also hardworking, you know, all those things that's just nice, yeah. And that fits in well. Yeah, it does, yeah. So can we go in? Yes, absolutely. Looks beautiful in here. Thank you. Do you have a particular wine that you can recommend? I do, actually. It's the Goldriesling. Very nice. It is a grape variety that we only grow here. Oh, well, I mean, then I have to try it, right? Can't leave without trying it. Antje is a qualified consultant for wines from Saxony, so she knows her stuff. Her parents were originally from Germany but emigrated to Australia when she was five. It's amazing how destiny has brought her back to Germany. As a next step, she plans to also work as a tour guide in Meissen. Very unique. Lovely, isn't it? Very nice. Oh, it's so nice to just sit in a nice wine garden, have a glass of wine. Yeah, it's very relaxing. You know, I always say Meissen's small enough to always feel safe and for it to feel like a homely environment, but it's big enough that you're never bored. Although she says the German weather did take some getting used to. Even just in January, I went to open the wine shop and there was snow, you know, all in front of my door. And I was just like, what do I do now? You know, I've not had that. Or the first time I had to, like, scratch my window free, you know, to be like, yeah, yeah. I was like, oh, I'm from the tropics. What do I do now? And what does the future look like then? Are you, do you think you'll stay here? Oh, I think we will. Yeah, yeah. We've got so much to see and do yet. And I just feel like we really got to a place now where we need to be. Australia will always be home as well. Both countries are amazing and I'm so grateful to have both. That's great. It sounds like you've really built yourself a wonderful life here. Yes, I think I have. Well, cheers to that. Cheers to that. I'm still missing a great photograph to remind me of my time here in Meissen. And for that, I meet Eric Franke. He's an Instagrammer who lives near Meissen. He loves nature and architecture and regularly posts photos of his travels and discoveries. He likes to go off the beaten track to find places that not everyone knows about. I bought a camera about five years ago. I'd always been into gadgets and had done a lot of filming and tried out different things. And because I've always loved landscapes, I started with that. I went to Saxon Switzerland near here, where I also made new friends. We started a group called the Saxony Explorers and now we meet every week. As a member of the group, Eric often posts beautiful photos of his home state of Saxony. There's a nice perspective here with the flowers in front. I always say it helps to have something good in the foreground. I'll show you. See, you have these nice red flowers with the leaves in the foreground and then the motif behind. I'd like to try. Can you show me? Sure. Do a wide angle. Yep, exactly. Go a bit closer to the flowers. A bit lower. Yep, you got it. Like that, you have a nice focal point in the foreground. Ah, very nice. Looks good. So where are we heading now? Next, we'll go down the river Elbe, where we have a good view of Albrechtsburg Castle. Sounds great. The riverbank in Meissen is the most popular spot for taking photos of Germany's oldest castle. It looks particularly dramatic today with the cloudy sky. And I can't let Eric go without a joint selfie first. Nice, thanks a lot. You're welcome. Just another tip, come back again later this evening when the lights are on. At sunset? Yes, that's definitely worth it. Another tip from me. Perfect, I'll do that. Enjoy. Thank you. I follow Eric's advice that same evening. Doesn't it look beautiful? Before I leave Meissen, I want to climb the tower of the Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady. I've even been given the key. Another 193 steps to climb. The Glockenspiel, or carillon, is of course made of Meissen porcelain. What else would you expect? Incidentally, Meissen has applied for recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Best of luck to them with that. Meissen, what a city. There's so much history here, yet it also feels very much alive. Overall, a great experience. See you next time.