Meissen (district) covered by the "Amtshauptmannschaften" Meissen, Dresden and Großenhain. In 1939, these were renamed "Landkreise" (districts). In the administrative reform of 1952, several municipalities were transferred to the districts of Freiberg and Döbeln. In 1990, the old district borders were restored, and in 1996 parts of the district Dresden-Land were added. In August 2008 the district of Riesa-Großenhain was added to the district to give it its current size. The main river of the district is the Elbe, which also flows through the city of Meissen. Meissen (district) Meissen () is a district ("Kreis") in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.
Volkstedt porcelain Friedrich Böttger, the ceramists at Meissen. He wished to open a privileged porcelain factory, making true hard-paste porcelain, intended to be sited in Sitzendorf. In 1762 the privilege was granted by Johann Friederich, Fürst von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, a great patron of the arts and music, specifying that the manufactory was to be set up near his princely court of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, under his personal direction. Volkstedt gained a reputation for its finely painted and carefully modeled porcelain figures that it holds for collectors today. In 1797 Ernest Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal, acquired the porcelain manufactory in Volkstedt, which he sold two years