26. September 2008.

Mór Fischer’s porcelain bust was unveiled in Herend on Wednesday, in the square facing the Porcelain Manufactory; the walkway was also named after him.

“In 1839, in the middle of the Bakony region, Mór Fischer launched a venture of conquest, an endeavour that earned Herend world renown,” said László Vajai, the mayor of the town, in his keynote address. László Vajai also stressed: with the unveiling of the statue and the naming of the walkway formerly called Park walkway to Mór Fischer walkway, the town of Herend wishes to express and make evident its appreciation to the one who brought prosperity to the Manufactory.

In his speech, Attila Simon, the managing director of Herendi Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt., reminded listeners that although the predecessor of the factory, a stoneware manufactory, was founded by Vince Stingl in 1826, Mór Fischer was the one who had purchased the bankrupt venture from Stingl and it was really he who had launched the manufacturing of porcelain in Herend, in 1839.

“For him, only perfect porcelain was acceptable; this demanding standard soon made him into number one supplier of the aristocracy,” said the company’s managing director. He also reminded his audience that the 1851 World Expo gained success for more than Mór Fischer, it also meant the beginning of the flourishing years of Herend’s porcelain manufacturing.

“The life and name of Mór Fischer are intertwined with the Manufactory,” said the managing director in his keynote address, pointing out that if the great ancestor had never been, today we would not be able to pride ourselves of World Expo successes to date, and the imperial and royal customers.

In his unveiling speech, author Tivadar Farkasházy, Mór Fischer’s direct lineal descendant (his great-great grandson), quoted Lajos Kossuth, who said at the first Hungarian Industrial Art Exhibition in 1842, that “Mór Fischer, with the works of his 4-year old porcelain factory, and a result of a rather substantial financial sacrifice, lent the Industrial Art Exhibition a rather jubilant tenor.”

The great-great grandchild author also referred to the fact that his ancestor had won numerous gold medals at World Expos with Herend over the course of his 37 years of operation, and has created porcelain painting patterns that are popular and sought after to this day, for example the Viktória, named after the British Queen, the Esterházy or the Rothschild.

Tivadar Farkasházy also told the tale of how Mór Jókai and Róza Laborfalvy were guests of the Manufactory and that Mór Fischer presented a Herend cup to the “great storyteller,” expressing his conviction that even his great grandchildren will be proud to recall the visit of Mór Jókai. “What’s more, even the great-great grandchildren,” quipped Tivadar Farkasházy to the amusement of the audience, and then in the company of the managing director and the mayor unveiled the work of industrial artist Szabolcs Zeke, the porcelain bust of Mór Fischer.

After this, the line of statues named “Gondolatok a jövőről” (“Thoughts about the future,”) at the Gateway to Herend was unveiled, a joint creation by industrial artist Imre Schrammel and potters of Herend, displaying a vase in between two carnival porcelain figures. Ferenc Köller, the head potter of the Manufactory constructed his ceremonial address upon the idea "Hass, alkoss, gyarapíts" (“Make a difference, create, develop”) of Ferenc Kölcsey’s poem, Huszt. Subsequently, the porcelain composition titled Összetartozás (Unity) of Munkácsy-award winning sculptor Károly Szekeres was unveiled in the Liget (City Park), with a speech of the artist himself.

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