Franz Josef Altenburg

Altenburg lived and worked in Breitenschützing, in the municipality of Schlatt. His first exhibition in Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (MAK) was Elemente, Objekte. Keramiken von Franz Josef Altenburg (curated by Christian Witt-Dörring) in 2001. In 2021, Block, Haus, Turm, Gerüst, Rahmen (Block, house, tower, scaffolding, frame) was the name of the last MAK exhibition. On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2021, he was awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. An exhibition of his works was held at the Kaiservilla where he was born; titled Ton und Form (Clay and form), it showed 50 objects from his long career. He died on 18 August 2021 at age 80.

Altenburg was born into the nobility at the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, the seventh of nine children of Clemens Salvator, Prince of Altenburg, and his wife Elisabeth, Countess Rességuier de Miremont [fr]. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Graz, the school of applied arts from 1958 to 1962, with Hans Adametz. He met the ceramicist Gudrun Baudisch-Wittke, with whom he worked in the Hallstätter Keramik workshop from 1962 to 1964. He studied further at the school of ceramics [it] in Faenza. In 1967, he became Meister in Hafnergewerbe (master of ceramics). He took study tours to foreign masters, such as in 1968 to Jean Claude de Crousaz in Geneva. That year, he was granted an atelier (workshop) by Johannes von Hohenberg at the Gmundner Keramik [de] manufacturer, where he worked as a freelance artist until 1993. During this time, he became a member of the Gruppe H, founded by Hohenberg and Baudisch-Wittke, which at a time also included Anton Raidel (1943–2019) and Wolfgang von Wersin. Altenburg was a member of the Kunstforum Salzkammergut. He is regarded as one of the most prominent modern ceramics artists in Austria.

Altenburg married Christa, Baronin von Haerdtl (Sankt Veit an der Glan, 29 January 1945) in Klagenfurt on 3 May 1969. She was the daughter of Thomas, Baron von Haerdtl, and his wife Ilse von Burger-Scheidlin. They had four children:

Franz Josef Georg Clemens Maria Leopold Salvator, Prince of Altenburg (15 March 1941 – 18 August 2021) was an Austrian ceramicist and sculptor. He was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Austria-Tuscany branch). He was regarded as a leading modern ceramicist of Austria, and received awards including the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.