Ernest Bohne Sons Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany
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Skeleton sitting on keg w/book Nip#569 Ernest Bohne Sons Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany “Albert Stahl & Co. vormals (formerly) Ernst Bohne Söhne.” “Albert Stahl & Co. vormals (formerly) Ernst Bohne Söhne.” 10” In 1937, the company was sold to Albert Stahl and was incorporated as “Albert Stahl & Co. vormals (formerly) Ernst Bohne Söhne.” Unfortunately for Stahl, the factory was located in the town of Rudolstadt, in the formerly East German state of Thüringen (Thuringia) and, following World War II, the production facilities were nationalized and eventually converted to the production of technical porcelain. While the company managed to retain many of the original molds and, after reunification, was able to reclaim others that had been confiscated, stein production both during the war years and thereafter under the socialist regime was virtually non-existent. Reprivatized in 1990, the company again began regular production of character steins based on the E. Bohne Söhne molds, creating pieces which are quite similar (although intentionally not identical) to the Bohne originals. Anyone familiar with Bohne characters should be able to distinguish the reproductions on sight. For those with less experience, look for Stahl’s crown and shield logo (Figure 10-left) or anchor logo (Figure 10-center) on the bottom. Stahl mark 1990-----> <------PKT mark Since returning its facilities to beer stein manufacturing, the company has also produced a number of other new designs, in addition to the Corona series, deserving of serious attention. In fact, by the late 1990s, Stahl steins had become so popular that they were no longer able to keep up with demand. To resolve that problem, Stahl began working closely with a newly-formed porcelain manufacturing company called PKT Since 2000, PKT has been handling a large part of Stahl’s character stein orders, including the production of steins in the Corona series. The steins coming from PKT are identical to those made in the Stahl factory, and are distinguishable only by the bottom mark (Figure 10-right) which, as can be seen, was designed to look very much like the Stahl crown and shield. Where a particular stein is produced today is based primarily on workflow considerations, and examples of most of the steins in the Corona series can now be found bearing a PKT mark. Given their history and continuing attention to quality, there can be little doubt that today’s Albert Stahl & Co. steins, and more recently those made by Stahl’s sister company PKT, will be actively sought-after by future generations of character stein collectors. Nip567 Ernest Bohne |
