Københavner plant pot with saucer

Of royal origin is the design that preceded Bergs Potter's Københaven pots. Similar models had already existed around the year 1860. They all came from the "Danish Versailles", as Fredensborg Castle in the north of the island of Zealand is still called today. Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway had the castle built between 1720 and 1722 as a summer residence and hunting lodge. A pottery workshop must have been part of the royal property. Steffen Berg, Bergs-Potter's second-generation managing director, found the historic planters by chance in a greenhouse of an abandoned nursery and was inspired to create a new edition according to his own, discreetly modernized design. The restrained scale decoration is particularly successful. We also appreciate these pots because the matching coaster, potted from the same clay, is included right away. Not only do both parts together create a harmonious overall picture - the coasters also help to use water more efficiently, as they collect excess water and keep it ready for later use. With the rather smaller pot sizes, this is an advantage that should not be underestimated, especially if the containers are placed outside on the balcony or on the terrace, where watering is required more frequently in warm summers anyway.

When Victor Berg inherited his ceramics business in Copenhagen in 1942, he was particularly keen to make the everyday lives of his fellow citizens a little more colorful in gray times. In the words of the Danish poet Hans Christian Andersen: "Life alone is not enough, said the butterfly. Sunshine, freedom and a little flower must be had." So Berg always kept a bouquet of vases and pots in his store and added cut flowers to the assortment at the same time. Copenhageners liked that - over the years, several stores in the were added, and eventually also planters and cachepots of his own design. For when Victor Berg's children joined the family business in the 1980s, they began to have their own ideas - initially inspired by historical models they found all over Europe - molded in terracotta. To this end, Bergs Potter still works with traditional potteries in Tuscany, in Lucca to be precise, and now also in Portugal; a tradition that is now being continued with great dedication by the third Berg generation. The preferred material is the famous southern Tuscan Galestro clay, which is rich in minerals and is considered particularly frost-resistant. Once fired, even the unglazed terracotta can show shades between red and pink, gray and white - an appealing natural patina that only this clay possesses. For the health of your potted plants also advantageous: in the clay contained carbonate and potassium salts grant a good permeability, which can positively influence in particular the development of the root system.