Strunz and Cortendorf information, pulled together from German collector/dealer sources (auction houses, regional ceramics history sites, a Chiemgau local history journal).
Albert Strunz himself
Born 1916, died 1974 – so he died around the same time the factory itself was being absorbed into Goebel, which is a detail worth building the piece around. He trained under the sculptor Prof. Otto Poerzel, which is a real pedigree: Poerzel was a well-regarded figural porcelain modeller in his own right (Rosenthal/Hutschenreuther circle), so Strunz wasn’t a self-taught hobbyist, he came up through proper academic sculptural training before moving into industrial ceramics. Source: Design20
He joined Cortendorf in 1950 and remained there as head modeller and mould designer until his death. So that’s roughly a 24-year run as the factory’s chief creative hand – he wasn’t a guest designer brought in for one line, he effectively was the design identity of Cortendorf for its entire post-war existence. Source: Design20
The wall mask line specifically
Sources converge on 1954 as when he started introducing new design elements generally, with the wall mask line proper launching in 1958, model no. 3408 being cited as the originating model that proved enormously popular. Source: Design20
One dealer’s catalogue entry on a related model (3440, 1959) gives some useful stylistic analysis you could lean on: As for form, he consistently rejected vertical symmetry and frontality. A transition from half to three-quarters and full profile can be traced. That’s a citable formal observation – the asymmetry/profile rotation as a Strunz signature, distinct from more frontal/symmetrical competitors of the period. The same listing cites a reference book worth chasing down if you want a real source: Horst Makus, 50er Jahre Wandmasken, Schönheit und Exotik, Stuttgart 2000 — that appears to be the standard reference work on 1950s wall masks generally and would likely have a dedicated Cortendorf/Strunz section. Source: Design20
Strunz beyond Cortendorf — the Achental-Keramik connection
Achental-Keramik in Grassau (Chiemgau, Bavaria) was a branch operation of Cortendorf, founded in 1943 by Gertraude Griesbach (evidently a relation of founder Julius Griesbach) in a former cement factory building. The reason it existed: “Da im Landkreis Coburg nicht genügend Produktionskapazitäten zur Verfügung standen, wurden einige der Wandmasken in Grassau produziert und als Produkt der Achental-Keramik auf den Markt gebracht.” — Coburg didn’t have enough production capacity, so some Cortendorf wall masks were actually manufactured down in Grassau under the Achental-Keramik name. Source: Traunsteiner Tagblatt
And the designs for both the animal figures and the later independent mask programme at Achental-Keramik were also Strunz’s: Die Entwürfe stammten von dem Bildhauer und Modelleur Albert Strunz, der auch schon viele der in Grassau produzierten Tierfiguren modelliert hatte. In den Folgejahren trat die Achental-Keramik auch mit einem eigenen Masken-Programm hervor, dessen Entwürfe ebenfalls auf Albert Strunz zurückgingen. So if you ever come across an “Achental-Keramik” stamped wall mask, that’s effectively a Strunz design too, just made at the satellite plant rather than Coburg-Cortendorf itself. There’s even a 1942 photo reference floating around — “Albert Strunz bei der Modellarbeit, um 1942” — showing him at modelling work, which predates his formal Cortendorf start date and suggests he was already working in this world beforehand, possibly still under Poerzel or freelance. Source: Traunsteiner TagblattTraunsteiner Tagblatt
Two other names turn up specifically tied to Cortendorf in the post-war/wall mask period, though with much thinner documentation than Strunz:
- Helmut Diller — named directly as a Cortendorf designer of the era
- Gerhard Bochmann — named alongside Diller in the same source, in connection with the wall mask / putti / religious motif output
There’s some date inconsistency across sources on the Goebel takeover — most say late January 1973, one says 1974. The 1973 date appears more often and more specifically (with the exact date), so I’d treat that as the more reliable figure and treat 1974 as likely a rounding/citation error somewhere downstream.
More info can be found on the identification marks here or if you want a collated list of Product Numbers, look here
June 2026 – managed to find another Cortendorf piece thanks to Atomic Goose! What the second image proves to me is that this is ceramic and not chalkware, so a worthy find.
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