Gerz Stein

 Q: My aunt was given a beer stein from an elderly couple of German descent. She wasn’t able to get any information about it. The stein is decorated with raised, painted flowers and blue trim. The mark on the bottom is a stein inside a triangle and the words “Gerz, West Germany, Handarbeit.” Can you give us any information about the maker and age of this stein?

A: Simon Peter Gerz founded a pottery in Hohr, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, in 1857. The pottery made stoneware. A new pottery was built in Sessenbach in 1967. Gerz was in business until 1997. The name and mark are now owned by Domex Manufaktur. The word “Handarbeit” means the stein was hand made. The words “West Germany” indicate your aunt’s stein was made sometime between 1949 and 1990, before Germany was reunited.