Johann Böttger - The inventor of material is more precious than gold

With a passion for chemical research, Johann Böttger from a "poor" alchemist changed the world with his invention.

>>>Turn eggshell into ceramics

Alchemy is one of the most popular occupations in ancient Western society. With the dream of turning cheap metals into solid gold, many people have worked hard and devastated, spending their whole lives studying with rudimentary chemical experiments.

Most of them fail because gold cannot be produced from other materials. However, there are also a few lucky people who, instead of creating gold, have other inventions. The alchemist Johann Böttger was such a man when he invented a way of making ceramics - a material more precious than gold at that time .

The promising future of the tiny "alchemy"

Johann Böttger (1682 - 1719) had a rather peaceful childhood. He was born and raised in a family of traditional jewelers in Berlin, Germany. Böttger from a young age was very bright and passionate about chemistry. So when he grew up he started to study pharmacology.

Portrait of the alchemist Johann Böttger.

At the age of 19, with endless passion, he began to secretly delve into studying more interesting fields of his studies. Böttger spends a lot of time researching with all kinds of chemicals even if banned by his family and school.

His lifelong goal was only one - to turn lead or other worthless metals into gold. With a lot of experience, he gradually convinced his near-neighbor neighbors that he had succeeded.

. the turning point of life .

Later, the Böttger teenager decided to hold a street show. He gathered the crowd around and waved silver pieces to them.

Böttger is like other alchemists, always looking for ways to turn lead into gold.

With some alchemy skills and chemical treatment methods, he transformed those pieces of silver into a single piece of yellow metal.

Böttger convinced the crowd completely and this story was transmitted to August - the Saxony state voter and king of Poland shortly afterwards.

August was in deep debt, quickly finding Böttger. The king asked Böttger to produce gold and the young man accepted it to be completed within a few weeks.

The turning point in his life until Böttger met King August.

However, time passed and still no results. August begins to lose his temper and eventually sends Böttger to prison with an ultimatum: 'Or create gold, or die'.

. inventions that change the Western world .

Böttger was imprisoned for 7 years. During that time, he met Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus who was also an alchemist and mathematician.

Tschirnhaus did not want to make gold, but was more interested in making porcelain - a material considered more precious than gold at that time. Because gold can be found everywhere, but at that time, porcelain was only found in the East and the Chinese insisted on keeping their production secret.

The sign in front of the Böttger site was once detained.

Thanks to Tschirnhaus, Böttger knew that kaolin (white clay) had a certain amount in porcelain. That is the main component, so what about other factors?

The sediments of kaolin are found in the Alps, so Böttger immediately embarked on experiments with different formulas for making ceramics.

Only a noble family in Europe then owned Chinese ceramics.

The breakthrough came on January 15, 1,708. While testing the ratios between kaolin and gypsum, Böttger found three ratios that are identical to those obtained from an available piece of porcelain.

Later, Böttger and his colleagues continued to study. Not long after, he found the last recipe for porcelain, besides the necessary temperature of the kiln and the way to glaze porcelain pots.

After seven years of hard work, he created more precious material than gold . The king thus funded him to open the first porcelain kiln in Europe, located in Meissen.

The process of making porcelain of alchemist Böttger.

Böttger was declared free, but the king was afraid of revealing the production formula, so he and the workers at the factory were almost imprisoned.

Böttger died in 1719, but the experiments continued. Finally, in 1724, the Meissen workshop found an effective formula like quartz to replace plaster. This formula still applies today.

The invention of Johann Böttger's ceramic production at that time changed Europe. His success helped Europe no longer depend on Chinese ceramics supply.

At the same time, the invention also opened the race to scramble for fertile soil containing kaolin and other essential minerals everywhere.

The title has been changed.