Here lie the remains of Rörstrand's porcelain factory. It was built in 1726 and had been given the privilege to produce true porcelain, but faience was the only ware that was actually produced there until the 1770s. In 1758, the rival manufactory at Marieberg began to produce porcellanous stoneware. High production costs, a small market, and strong competition from imported Chinese porcelain kept Rörstrand from trying to copy Marieberg's products. By the 1770s, Rörstrand began producing its own version of English stoneware, but it took them a lot of time to master the technology. With the acquisition of Marieberg in 1785, Rörstrand became the only major Swedish porcelain producer. Gustavsberg became a competitor in the late 1820s and forced Rörstrand to start the mass production of transfer-printed tableware. During the 1860s, Rörstrand was one of the nation's largest factories which employed around 1,000 people. The factory's products had an excellent reputation worldwide and participated in international art and industrial exhibitions.
In 1926, this factory was closed down and the production was moved first to Gothenburg then to Lindköping. Nowadays the brand name is owned by Finnish Fiskars and the production takes place in, among other places, Indonesia.
So, what remains today? In addition to the street and block names that remind of Rörstrand's porcelain factory, one can see the old tip for porcelain shards (“porslinstippen”). It is located to the right of the footbridge from Birkastan to Karlberg Castle. Karlbergstunnel also reminds of the grand history with its 25 luminous plates on the walls with various Rörstrand patterns. And the brand name, of course, which is considered Europe's second oldest porcelain brand after the German Meissen and still stands for quality, style and craftsmanship.
