Meissen and the House of Wettin in 1089. In 1015 Meissen was besieged by the Poles led by future King Mieszko II. In 1241 the city was attacked in the Mongol raid on Meissen. The small Mongol force under Orda Khan defeated the city's defenders and much of the city was destroyed. The Mongols withdrew from Germany after the death of Ögedei Khan, sparing the region from further destruction. The city was at the forefront of the Ostsiedlung, or intensive German settlement of the rural Slavic lands east of the Elbe, and its reception of city rights dates to 1332. The
Meissen based on extensive local deposits of china clay (kaolin) and potter's clay (potter's earth). Meissen porcelain was the first high-quality porcelain to be produced outside of the Orient. The first European porcelain was manufactured in Meissen in 1710, when by decree of King Augustus II the Strong the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Factory ("Königlich-Polnische und Kurfürstlich-Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur") was opened in the Albrechtsburg. In 1861, it was moved to the "Triebisch" river valley of Meissen, where the porcelain factory can still be found today. Along with porcelain, other ceramics are also manufactured. The Albrechtsburg, the former residence of the House of