Karlsbad-style coffee maker

Lore & Background

The original Karlsbad coffee maker was invented in 1878 by the Thun'sche Porzellanfabrik, which had decades of experience producing thin, fragile porcelain for lithophanes. The device consisted of four porcelain parts: a pot, a strainer, a water spreader, and a lid. Early shapes included a cylindrical filter with two squarish handles and a ball-shaped pot, as well as a trapezoid neoconic style. In 1910, Siegmund Paul Meyer (SPM) incorporated the slit filter into a cylindrical design, and in 1913 introduced the classic pear-shaped rounded form (form 599), which was later copied by other manufacturers.

Many porcelain manufacturers produced Karlsbad coffee makers, including Thun, Altrohlauer, Haas & Czjzek, Rosenthal, Hutschenreuther, Villeroy & Boch, and Walküre. Production gradually declined as electric coffee makers became common, and for decades the devices were only available on the used market. A renaissance began around the millennium as part of the third-wave coffee movement, and one manufacturer restarted production. In 2007, designer Daniel Eltner created the Bayreuth coffee maker for Walküre, a modernized Bauhaus-inspired design (form 699) that won the Good Design Award 2008 and the Coffee Innovations Award 2008. As of 2020, Friesland was the only remaining manufacturer; their Varel production site burned down on 29 June 2023, with reconstruction pending.

Reader's Guide

Karlsbad-style coffee makers represent a significant chapter in the history of manual coffee brewing, particularly within Central European coffee culture. Their all-porcelain construction and permanent double-layered cross-slit filter eliminated the need for paper filters, while the water spreader ensured even extraction with minimal bed agitation. This design produced a clean, sediment-free cup known as Karlsbader coffee, which was a staple in Viennese coffee houses and was also used to prepare the Kleiner Schwarzer (a black coffee without milk or sugar).

The devices were manufactured by numerous porcelain companies across Germany, Austria, and France, reflecting their widespread popularity. Their decline in the mid-20th century mirrored the rise of electric drip machines, but the revival since the 2000s—driven by third-wave coffee enthusiasts—has reestablished their place in specialty coffee. Modern versions like the Bayreuth coffee maker have updated the aesthetic while preserving the original brewing principles. Today, Karlsbad-style coffee makers are used by connoisseurs, coffee sommeliers, roasters, and in tasting laboratories, valued for their ability to produce a clean, flavorful cup without bypass. The 2023 fire at Friesland's Varel site has temporarily halted production, but the legacy of these porcelain brewers endures among collectors and specialty coffee professionals.

Did You Know?

• The coffee produced by these devices is called Karlsbader (Karlsbad coffee).
• In Vienna, the Kleiner Schwarzer (black coffee) was often prepared in Karlsbad coffee makers, leading them to be incorrectly called Vienna coffee-making machines.