Tschirnhaus

Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (*10 April 1651 in Kieslingswalde; † 11 October 1708 in Dresden) was a German naturalist at the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment.

Tschirnhaus focused on the development and improvement of burning mirrors. Under Augustus the Strong, he was commissioned to work together with J.F. Böttger on the production of porcelain. Until then, only the Asians had been able to do this. In 1708, porcelain was invented, but Tschirnhaus unfortunately died of dysentery a few months before the official announcement. Thus, his contribution to the history of porcelain fades into the background and it is controversial to name the true inventor of porcelain. Tschirnhaus was appointed by Augustus the Strong as privy councillor and director of the Meissen manufactory, which was still to be founded at the time, but he did not want to bear this title until production had begun, which he did not live to see.