The first time I passed by Kahla’s shop, I fell in love. Though their porcelain is slightly thicker than I expected, I adore their modern yet classy designs. Going to their store is a delightful experience because they displays have a sense of whimsy. With all the eye-candy, I feel like a little girl in a candy store. You know how much I love beautiful and clever design right?

Anything but ordinary

They have very colourful designs and I drool over the ones with gold details but my favourite are of course the simple white collections because they are timeless. These are far from ordinary because of the chic organic shapes, multi-functional pieces that can be mixed and matched. Instead of sticking to traditional pieces and designs Kahla has kept up with the times and created pieces that conform to modern use and way of dining. Read more about their innovative design approach here. 

Innovative Designs

A great example is their Magic Grip line which has a special slip-resistant base that reduces noise, protects your tables and enables you to balance several pieces on top of each other without worrying that it will slip. When you are serving, kneading  and stirring you can be confident that these will not slip and make a mess. I love the covers which keep the food warm and once you are ready to serve, can be placed under the serving bowl to act as a smaller tray underneath. It makes for gorgeous table settings. 1. The Notes Collection is for the creatives out there who like to scribble and draw. It’s a creative way to do place settings or menu items. Write a sweet note or describe the flavours or spices within. The possibilities for creativity are endless 2. Mind the Gap is designed to keep the tea bags from falling into the cup 3. Apparatus is a multi-purpose item to juice lemon and orange slices, grate nutmeg or horseradish and also store them. 4. The Couture Collection is über luxurious with its baroque elements. I especially love the touches of gold This is just a few examples of the many cleverly design products of Kahla. There is so much more! You will just have to go to their stores or website to see for yourself.

Proudly East German-made

Kahla was founded on 1844 and is a product of Thuringia, which came under the Soviet Occupation Zone or East Germany.

GOOD TO KNOW: – In 1996 Kahla was the first porcelain manufacturer in the former East Germany to be certified as conforming to the DIN ISO 9001 quality standard. – Kahla’s boundary-pushing design has been awarded multiple times (80 was the last count). See all their design awards here. – Kahla celebrates its 170 year anniversary in 2014 and has celebrated many milestones since. – Kahla is 100% German made. It is a great example of a family-owned German company and strives for socially and environmentally responsible and sustainable production. Read more here.

Kahla only produces hard paste porcelain (like Meissen and KPM) which is prized more than soft paste or bone china. Hard-paste porcelain is the whites kind of porcelain – whiter than vitreous/bone china. The whiter china is the higher it is prized. This is why their products aren’t cheap, but they are most certainly affordable compared to Meissen and KPM. This means that the white Kahla porcelain is dishwasher-proof, microwavable and oven-safe. Pieces with color and other details may not be oven-safe because the high heat may damage the details. Learn more about Kahla quality and care here.

DIPLO TIP: – When you go to their Mitte store below, make sure to ask permission to go to the basement. There they have their outlet items which are on sale for a very big discount. It’s worth a look-see. – Kahla ships to European countries with minimal shipping fees.

Kahla Porzellan

KAHLA Porzellan Berlin, Friedrichstraße 122, 10117 Berlin (+49) 030 – 27 87 45 90 berlin@kahlaporzellan.com  Monday to Saturday 11:00 – 19:00 online store • other retailers • factory outlet & tours

All images are credited to Kahla. Please click on the image to view the source page.