The founding of the factory goes back to the discovery of a large clay deposit by the engineer Heinrich Polko while constructing the train line Wittenberg-Bitterfeld in 1858. Not long after, he founded a factory to produce all sorts of pottery in Muldenstein. Three years later the whole production was moved to the Bismarckstraße in Bitterfeld, where it stayed till its closure. It was the first pottery factory in whole Bitterfeld at the time, succeeding the smaller traditional pottery businesses in the area. In the year 1863 Polko and his 8 workers produced dishes, fire screens, fireclay and some of the first clay pipes in Germany, the latter had been imported from England before. Over the following years the factory was expanded several times and the buildings that can be seen in the pictures were constructed. The expansions and modernizations happened in the years 1896, 1911 and 1914. The production focus in the newer parts of the factory was set on the clay pipes and fittings for the growing chemical industry in the area. The northern part of the factory was turned into a floor and wall tile production plant in 1900. The fabricated tiles gained a lot of popularity and sold very well at the time. A railway connection was added in 1891, which helped with delivering the manufactured products faster and in higher quantities. In 1913 Heinrich Polkos son Friedrich Polko took over the factory. After the Second World War parts of the factory were renovated to house a bread production by the Konsumgenossenschaft. With the end of the GDR most of the property was abandoned and remains so to this day. The largest building, which I assume once belonged to the factory, was renovated and turned into a supermarket (Kaufland).
