Twittern

Preserving Brickmaking Tradition – the Tuilerie-Briqueterie Pierre Lanter, Hochfelden-Alsace/France

• ››1 Brickyard idyll in the 21st century

• ››2 Three generations of brickmakers: Pierre,...

• ››3a to 3e An idea of the product range from the...

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• >>4 Taking off the solid bricks at the extruder...

• >>5 Sequence for shaping the handmade plain tiles...

• >>5a Pressing the clay into the mould

• >>5b Using thumbs to shape the nib

• >>5c Sanding the back of the brick

• >>5d Placing the drying board on top of the mould

• >>5e Turning the drying board complete with the...

• >>5f Using the fingers of both hands to draw the...

• >>5g Demoulding = lifting the tile iron (the...

• >>5h Finished tile on the drying board, ready for...

• >>6 Transferring the channel dryer cars with a...

• >>7 Setting the channel dryer cars on the tracks...

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• >>9 Open air dryer with stillage trolleys

• >>10 Setter in the annular kiln

• >>11 Schag stoking equipment on the annular kiln

• Internet1 The chimney – symbol of a traditional...

• Internet2 The workforce during loading around 1959

• Internet 3 Raw clay stockpile in front of the box...

• Internet4 Moulding bench with water and sand...

• Internet5 Dashing the batt of clay into the mould

• Internet6 Finished back of the tile with nib

• Internet7 Struck tile in the mould on the moulding...

• Internet8 Turning the drying board together with...

• The tile mould with the moulded tile now lies on the drying board

• Internet10 The tile maker user the fingers of both hands to draw the water furrow

• Internet11 The finished tile in the mould

• Internet12 Schag stoker on the annular kiln

• Internet13 Broken tiles and bricks are bought in to make brick powder

The beginnings of Tuilerie-Briqueterie Pierre Lanter go back to the year 1800. Today the Lanter Brickworks is one of the few medium-sized companies that has survived the demise of brickworks and process of concentration in the clay brick and tile industry, and preserved its independence. With great know-how and simple, but proven methods, including such with centuries-old tradition, a wide array of products is produced. These are products that the competition either cannot produce and/or are needed in such small quantities that they are only interesting for small, specialized companies. With such products, the company has created the market niches necessary for its survival. The following report describes the history, product range and technology used at this unusual brickworks.

1 Company History

The history of the Lanter brickmaking family begins with Jacques Pfister, who practised the trade of the brickmaker around 1800 in Hochfelden/Alsace.

Of his four sons, Anton Pfister followed in his footsteps. In 1850 he set up a brick kiln in Hochfelden, which his son Josef Pfister took over when he was 20 years old.

It was Josef Pfister, who in 1896 built the Briqueterie (masonry brickworks) at the current site, with annular kiln and open air dryers. He had dismantled the latter at the old brick kiln site, and, with the help of the villagers, transported the whole thing to the...

Willi Bender