Lower factory - before 1907

Along the road from Zell to Biberach, the Scheible and Haager company produced building ceramics and fireproof cookware made of clay. Parts of the building ceramics are still present on houses in Zell today.

From 1874, Haager, Hoerth and Co. fired earthenware in the lower factory. They marked their products with the coat of arms of the town of Zell and the lettering H. H. & C. Zell a. H (later H. H. & Cie. Zell a. H.). Old price lists show that in addition to tableware, decorative ceramics were increasingly on offer. Until 1900 the company produced about 1000 different shapes for all areas of daily life, like the exhibited hanging flower.

The company’s partner and later sole shareholder Georg Schmider recruited Elisabeth Schmidt-Pecht, a ceramist from Constance, who designed new shapes (Hilda) and new décors. They include the world-famous “Favorite”, which won an award at the World Exhibition in Paris. The head painter Karl Schöner, who began his career in the upper factory, designed what is probably the most famous decor from Zell, “Cock and Hen”.

These and many other décors and shapes developed in the lower factory continued to be produced for many decades.