Production Raeren Stoneware, circa 1550:

“Stop! No more wood, the white fire has been reached. Scoop the salt into the kiln.”

Men with faces covered in dirty rags, with blisters on their hands defying the caustic chlorine fumes that hang around the kiln like a white cloud. With tearful eyes they scoop kilos of salt into the kiln. Finally, the kilnmaster gives the signal: they can close the kiln.

For five days and nights they have fired a kiln with more than 2,000 pots. The work of many months is at stake. If this kiln fails, all will be in vain.

Not to mention the consequences for the pottery and the families who depend on it. Can the debt still be paid this month or will it be seized by the freelord?

How did a small village on the Lower Rhine develop into one of the largest producers of European stoneware in the 16th century? For that we have to go back to Roman times…