Meissen Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: "Meißen", ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche. The "Große Kreisstadt" is the capital of the Meissen district. Meissen is sometimes known as the "cradle of Saxony". The city grew out of the early Slavic settlement of "Misni" inhabited by the Glomacze tribe and was founded as a German town by King Henry the Fowler in 929.
Doccia porcelain Doccia porcelain The Doccia porcelain manufactory, at Doccia, a "frazione" of Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, was founded in 1735 by marchese Carlo Ginori near his villa. Now known as Richard-Ginori, following its merger with Società Richard of Milan, as of February, 2013 it was in bankruptcy but in April it was acquired by Gucci. Its early wares were of a “soft-paste” imitation porcelain, as were all European porcelains with the exception of Meissen, where deposits of kaolin had been discovered. Ginori established the kilns at the foot of forested Monte Morello, whose timber fuelled them, and initiated experiments with local