Although, by the 20s and 30s, many traditional pottery manufactures across Germany had closed down; many were still operating. These, combined with the system of apprenticeship which they supported and the teaching colleges that offered courses in industrial ceramics, ensured the preservation and the extension of the necessary skills and knowledge required by those industries to evolve. After the war these regional training infrastructures stimulated the creation of new studio potteries & manufactures, and ensured the continuation of centuries-old traditions on a renewed aesthetic and technical bases. Thus, Wim Muehlendyck and Elfriede Balzac-Koop settled in the salt-glaze stoneware area of Westerwald, which they re-interpreted in a modern vein; while Rudi Stahl , and Elke & Elmar Kubicek , re-interpreted the tradition of Hörh-Grenzhaussen . Walburga Kuelz, Ruth Koppenhoefer set up in the area between the Rhein and Saar, Zenker-Karthausen in the North Rhine Wes
The ceramic revival that took place in Germany during the post-war years owes much to the Bauhaus; in particular its focus on students mastering traditional hand-throwing techniques (till they became 'second nature'); then on applying these skills and knowledge to the design of beautiful, functional objects for daily use - pitcher, tea & coffee pot, plate, bowl, etc. - that achieve a synthesis between modernity and tradition. Although the Bauhaus advocated designing ceramics for industrial production, many German potter who set up studios and workshops chose to produce objects of daily use by hand; albeit in series. Hence the presence of serial numbers incised next to signatures: to enable shops to re-order and to ensure continuity. This conferred upon German ceramics a distinctive craft quality: the persistance of the ‘hand-made’ at the heart of its production, in an increasingly industrialised world. The ceramic unit at the Bauhaus was not set up on the actual B