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The Blue Swords

The Blue Swords

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Dec 30, 1949

Runtime

1h 39m

Genres

Drama, History

Original Title

Die blauen Schwerter

Production Companies

DEFA

Director

Wolfgang Schleif

Description

The story of Johann Friedrich Böttger, an apothecary’s apprentice and alchemist’s assistant. Fleeing from the Prussian King, he goes to Saxony, where King Frederick August the Strong takes him to a fortress and demands that he create gold. Böttger is equipped with everything he would need for the task, but he has known for a while that actual gold production is a myth and instead experiments with porcelain—white porcelain, as the Chinese are said to possess. In 1709, he finally succeeds in surprising the King with the "white gold," the first white porcelain made in Europe, he hopes for freedom.