From Ceramics and Culture: the History of the Toilet
The K-Hof Kammerhof Museum in the centre of Gmunden is home to the “Klo & So” sanitary museum. This collection of historical sanitary objects, the largest in the world, has been meticulously curated by LAUFEN over more than 70 years, illustrating the history of bathroom culture and the changes in hygiene standards over the last few centuries.
Everyone needs to use the toilet, whether it's called the latrine, privy, WC, or simply "the loo" – even Empress Sisi. This everyday object, often unnecessarily surrounded by embarrassment, carries significant social importance since almost half of humanity still lacks access to safe sanitary facilities. The absence of such facilities has severe impacts on clean drinking water, health, and the environment.
On the occasion of this special year, Austrian artist and curator Petra Zechmeister has been commissioned by LAUFEN to redesign the exhibition of the Klo & So Sanitary Museum at the K-Hof Museum, reflecting the current significance of the topic. The result is an informative and entertaining journey through the history of the toilet and sanitary ceramics.
From Emperor Franz's mobile "hunting throne" outhouse and Herbert von Karajan's toilet complete with a shower and dryer – even the retro bathroom designs of the 60s and 70s are included. Innovative LAUFEN products like save!, the first industrial-standard urine-separating toilet developed with the Viennese design team EOOS, feature highlighting the social and ecological significance of this everyday item.
In 1966, Fritz Lischka, the former plant manager of Gmundner Sanitärwerke, made a remarkable discovery on a construction debris heap: a beautiful toilet from 1904 adorned with blue-decorated reliefs by the Ditmar company from Znojmo, Czech Republic. This discovery sparked his passion, and over the next 40 years, he collected more than 350 exhibits, which he subsequently loaned to the city of Gmunden.
In the new staging and design of Klo & So, existing materials have been sustainably reused, and two contemporary artists invited to explore the intersection of art and design within the exhibition. Their hybrid artworks, created by Xenia Lesniewski and Gerhard Gutenberger, respond to this theme both conceptually and formally, operating at the crossroads of applied visual arts and design. These works remain as permanent installations in the museum, with a colour scheme executed by artist Nino Stelzl.
LAUFEN has always collaborated with designers and artists. In 1963, a legendary six-week symposium was initiated in Gmunden with the Austrian pioneer of modern ceramics, Kurt Ohnsorg (1927-1970), where creatives from around the world, from Nigeria to the USA, came together to create extraordinary pieces. A selection of these works are now on display in the museum for the first time.
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An interview video directed by Austrian photographer and filmmaker Jork Weismann, featuring contemporary witness Alfred Zinhobel, offers an engaging insight into Gmunden's 500-year ceramic tradition, the history of the water closet, and the production of ceramic pieces. Zinhobel, a long-time retired employee of the LAUFEN Gmunden plant, has been a passionate and voluntary curator of the toilet museum for over 25 years.
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