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