Legends of History: Under the Spell of Gold
2000
Directed by Christian Twente
Customer: ZDF
Story
In 1707, when alchemy was enjoying immense popularity, the 19-year-old Johann Friedrich Böttger came across a curiously pure, white material while experimenting with alchemy in the Virgin's Fort at Dresden. This was porcelain, the first to be produced in Europe. Suddenly the monopoly of Chinese porcelain could be broken, and the king, August the Strong of Saxony, was handed the source of incredible riches. But Böttger himself was a curious, erratic character, like so many alchemists, and he did in absolute poverty just 12 years after this immense triumph.
