Using the art ceramics produced from 1902 on his estate in Kadyny, Emperor William II wanted to influence the education of "good taste" of the German people. His ideas of real art centred around historicism. Accordingly, early ceramics were based on historical models from the ancient times to the 18th century.
Architectural ceramics were of particular significance as they were used for public purposes and therefore reached a wide public. Little of this survived after 1945.
It was not until after 1918 that Kadyny ceramics were successfully oriented to the taste of the public as it was now necessary for the work to generate a profit. The result was a very popular ornamental type of ceramics that sold well so that after 1945 Kadyny ceramics were appreciated by many East Prussians as souvenirs of their lost homeland.
Illustrations:
1.) Kadyny near Elbląg (former Elbing) on the Vistula Lagoon, factory building of the royal majolica factory, 1904.The soil rich is in clay.
2.) Majolica from Kadyny, Theodor-Heuss-Platz, Berlin
The ceiling of today’s underground station "Theodor-Heuss-Platz" in Berlin-Charlottenburg, built in 1908 as the "Reichskanzlerplatz" (Imperial Chancellor Square), displays one of the rare examples of Kadyny architectural majolica. Alfred Grenander, the in-house architect then in charge for the "Hochbahngesellschaft" (short for "Gesellschaft für Elektrische Hoch- und Untergrundbahnen in Berlin" / Berlin Electric Elevated and Underground Railway Company), designed the entrance hall for trains in the direction of Pankow and enhanced it with coloured glazed tiles.