The factory was founded in 1835 by Ludwig Oels. The business started as workshop decorating pipe bowls and stems. Oels however was not able to obtain a licence for his business from a local ruler. Lack of the license probably made harder supplying the workshop with firewood. In 1839 Oels had to sell the business to Daniel Kämpfe and Friedmann Greiner.
New owners were finally granted the license but supply of firewood was still scarce. In 1844 Porzellanmanufaktur Kämpfe & Greiner was sold to Dressel and Johann Friedrich Andreas Kister. Dressel and Kister at last got the concession allowing them to supply the business with firewood. They started to produce porcelain figurines.
Since 1863 the proprietor of the factory was Johann Kister's son, August Wilhelm Fridolin Kister. The Kister company had sample stores in Barcelona, London, Lisbon, Paris and Berlin. Renowned artists and modelers worked for Kister. among them were prof. Reinhard Möller, prof. Otto Poertzel, Felix Zeh and Carl Fuchs.
Porzellanmanufaktur A.W.F. Kister was in 1905 transformed into a private liability company (G.m.b.H.). In 1920 it was bought by Baron von Schilling but name of the company remained unchanged till 1962 when it was put under the state supervision. Finally, the communist authorities of GDR (German Democratic Republic) nationalized the factory in 1972.
The state owned V.E.B. Porzellanmanufaktur Scheibe-Alsbach functioned till the reunification of Germany in 1990. This year it was taken over by the Königlich privilegierte Porzellanfabrik Tettau G.m.b.H. The new owner was not interested in investing in the factory. It has kept only brands, trademarks and molds. Most of the factory buildings were demolished.
