KPM - Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin I Worlds of style I Classical elegance

Classicism focused on forms from classical antiquity, distinguished itself with clear outlines and cool colours, and aspired towards aesthetic perfection in balanced, harmonious proportions.

Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the founder of classical archaeology, had a strong and lasting impact on the architecture of German Classicism.
The architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the sculptors Johann Gottfried Schadow and Christian Daniel Rauch were also important advocates of the new style. The three artists created porcelain for KPM, which set standards in terms of their clarity and strictness of form.

Porcelain figurines were primarily produced in biscuit porcelain (unglazed, fired twice) so as to resemble marble as much as possible. The loveliest example is J.G. Schadow's 1795 sculpture of Princesses Luise and Friederike von Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

A large table service in the classicistic style was created for Peter Biron, Duke of Kurland, in 1790.

The bourgeoisie gained strength as a result of progressive political reforms following the Wars of Liberation (1813-15) against Napoleon I. Bourgeois salons (Rahel Varnhagen, Henriette Herz) gathered together the nobility, artists and citizens for the shared objective of intellectual exchange. Tea or coffee was served in ornamental cups, the decorations of which were designed with each individual guest in mind.

1787	Luigi Boccherini becomes court composer.
1791	The Brandenburg Gate is completed (C.G. Langhans, J.G. Schadow).
1815	K.F. Schinkel designs stage sets for Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, which has its premiere on 18 January, 1816.
1829	The Altes Museum at the Lustgarten is inaugurated (K.F. Schinkel), the first public museum building in Europe.