All of the steins offered at GermanMart.com are handcrafted and the process with which some steins are produced has not change in the last century. Take a tour through the facilities of one of GermanMart's manufacturers in Germany. Here you will get a small impression of the amount of work involved and the unique art represented by our steins. Enjoy the tour !

The raw Material takes shape

A handful of raw clay, a pottery wheel and well trained hands, those are the raw materials needed to produce a stein.
To form the clay into one of our beautiful steins, it is placed on the pottery wheel and then formed by hand until it reaches the desired shape. Creating pottery this way is a skill which requires many years of experience and the knowledge of old and unique techniques of craftsmanship. Many steins you will find at GermanMart will show rifts on the inside of the stein. These rifts are caused by the fingers pressing the clay on the turntable to create the desired form. These rifts are not considered flaws by any means, but are proof of the handcrafted craftsmanship..

It already looks like a stein. Doesn't it ?

GermanMart.com is proud to be able to offer steins which are manufactured in the traditional way. This is what differentiates our steins from products being mass produced in China and unfortunately, in many cases, distributed as authentic steins. We will guarantee the authenticity of our steins and you will never find any Chinese imitation on our Site.

The color

After the stein dries and the clay is hard, the work of the colorist begins. Pottery is colored by using a special colored glaze. This glaze looks mat and dull when it is applied and will turn into a shiny and intensely colored surface once it is burned.

The color is painted by hand on the stein, which is a very difficult process due to the consistency of the glaze which can be nearly like powder (depending on the glaze).

GermanMart.com is able to offer custom made steins like the "Monster Stein" you see in the picture. Please inquire about custom designed steins at sales@germanmart.com and take the opportunity to give your event the unique authentic touch.

Carved Steins and relief steins

Carved steins are steins where the design is carved into the stein. The carving takes place shortly after the stein comes from the pottery wheel and while the material is still a little soft. Hand carved steins are mostly colored with the famous salt glaze which gives the stein a shiny blue and gray coloring.
The carving technique is also one of the oldest techniques used do decorate beer steins and is used to produce historical replicas of ancient steins.

Faience Steins an imitation of porcelain !

For a period during the 17th century, when the Chinese porcelain became more and more popular but was still unaffordable to people, clever craftsman developed a new technique to imitate the shiny and smooth surface of porcelain. By changing the clay mixture and using a milky metal glaze they tried to imitate the expensive porcelain. Today this steins are known as Faience Steins. The Faience Stein is one of the most difficult steins to produce. Due to the required multiple burns and the necessary knowledge of the unique metal glaze mixture only a few companies are still producing this kind of stein. GermanMart.com is offering a complete series of Faience Steins representing mostly replicated historical designs. Read more about the history in our history section.

The Drying Chamber

In order to dry out the clay and give the stein its consistency, the steins are air dried for many hours, before they go into the burn oven. The overall process takes several days and requires a lot of patience. The picture shows a stack of steins before it is placed in the oven.
The drying process is a very slow process. The slower the water is driven out of the clay, the sturdier the final stein becomes.

Cooling the steins after the burn

After the stein is burned for many hours it is removed from the oven and placed in a cooling room. Here the stein will be very slowly cooled down to room temperature. This process takes many hours and can not be accelerated, in order to avoid cracking of the material.
As you can see the mat and light glaze turned into a deep blue color after the burn. The drastic change in appearance which results after the burn requires a lot of experience when initially applying the glaze so that the end result is as desired.

The Pewter Top and how it is produced

After the stein is ready, the only missing piece is the pewter top. The pewter top actually has a legal background. During the 14th century, scientists found out that the plague was transmitted by little flies. To prevent the disease from spreading, the rulers released a law which required all beverages to be covered. Since a lid itself would distract from the pleasure of drinking beer and the stein would then require two hands to be handle while drinking, a one handed solution was in demand. This was when the hinged lid was born. The hinged lid would allow people to drink their beverage with one hand and still comply with the law.

The way the pewter lids are produced has not changed for centuries. Each lid has must be poured from liquid pewter. The solid pewter is heated up until it changes to liquid form and then it is poured into a special mold which gives the pewter the appearance of the final pewter lid.

After the mold is filled with pewter, it is cooled off in water. At this point the pewter changes back into solid form and the pewter lid is nearly ready. After the mold is cooled down it will be opened and here it is, the pewter lid, as we know it on the steins.

As you may have noticed the mold contains two or more channels which allow the pewter to fill the mold evenly . This raw lid will need to be cleaned and then mounted on the stein.

Since the channels are filled with pewter too, they have to be removed from the lid. Afterwards the lid will be polished and graded so no uneven parts remain. Up to today the pewter lids you will find on GermanMart's steins are produced this exact same way. There is no way to mass-produce lids with such detail and quality as the ones you find on the steins offered by GermanMart.com

Credits : We would like to thank our manufacturer BAZ for providing these pictures.
All pictures are governed by international copyright laws © 1999-2000 GermanMart, Ltd. & BAZ