All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E12.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und]

[narrator] In New Mexico,

an outpost built
on a bed of lies.

[Jim]
It's a classic kind of scam

that happened again and again
in the American West.

[narrator] An institution
where many entered,
but few escaped.

This is an abandoned
health facility of some kind,

but they weren't doing
heart surgery here.

[narrator] And a lost city,
the former home
of two tyrants.

[narrator] And a lost city,
the former home
of two tyrants.

[Dougal] It's clearly the site
of a famous ruler,

but it's not the person you
really think it's gonna be.

[narrator] Decaying relics...

ruins of lost worlds...

sites haunted by the past...

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

[narrator]
In central Scotland,
between Edinburgh and Glasgow,

imposing ruins cast
a long shadow.

[somber music playing]

This epic building rising out
of the woodland,
which is totally ruthless.

[Jim] Very imposing,
made of stone, designed
almost like a giant church

with two clock
or bell towers.

But they're
totally dilapidated,

everything has just collapsed
into chaos inside.

[Lynette] There is so much
feeling of disaster here

that you can't help

but think that
this is a dangerous place.

[narrator]
There are clues here
of a terrifying past.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Lynette] Here in Lanarkshire,
people viewed this place
as frightening,

as an object of suspicion,

and it was a threat.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] Lorraine Duncan
grew up under the shadow
of this spooky place.

It would eventually help
her forge a career
in mental health.

It would eventually help
her forge a career
in mental health.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Lynette] People could get
locked up here
against their will

and be in
that grim, forbidding place
for the rest of their lives.

[narrator] This complex
was Hartwood Hospital,

a psychiatric asylum that
served the Scottish county,
Lanarkshire,

a psychiatric asylum that
served the Scottish county,
Lanarkshire,

for a century.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Jaega] In the 1950s,
it was one of the largest
mental institutions in Europe,

with over 2,500 patients.

[narrator] By this time,
it had developed
a fearsome reputation,

forged since its inception
in the late 19th century.

When building started
in 1890,

When building started
in 1890,

it was designed
to accommodate 420 patients,

and it had big ambitions
to impress.

[Jim] The main building
had this elegant look,

like almost like
a large cathedral with
two beautiful clock towers.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] Overlooking
the newly completed asylum

[narrator] Overlooking
the newly completed asylum

was the home
of its first superintendent,

Dr. Archibald Campbell Clark,

an experimental physician
who pushed boundaries.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] Campbell Clark
brought groundbreaking ideas

in mental healthcare
to Hartwood.

These buildings
represent a real turning point
in the history of medicine.

These buildings
represent a real turning point
in the history of medicine.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Lynette]
Dr. Campbell Clark's view

is that mental institutions

ought to be a...
a place where people
would not be restrained,

they wouldn't be held
in straitjackets.

they wouldn't be held
in straitjackets.

[Jim] Clark thought
it was vitally important
for patients to live

something like a normal life.

[narrator]
The hospital organized
recreational activities,

like dances, cinema showings
and fancy dress
for the patients.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator]
One of Clark Campbell's
revolutionary ideas

was to get the patients
to work on the site.

was to get the patients
to work on the site.

Male patients were put to work
as tailors, shoemakers,

bakers, gardeners,

whereas the women were put
to work in the kitchen

and generally doing
the housework around the ward.

[Jim] Today we call this
occupational therapy,

and working, folding sheets
or in the kitchen

or tending vegetables
might not sound
that exciting,

but for a patient who might
otherwise be sitting
in a room,

staring at the walls,
this was something
that was very healthy.

[narrator] Eventually,
Hartwood became less reliant
on the outside world.

[narrator] Eventually,
Hartwood became less reliant
on the outside world.

In time, Hartwood Hospital
was almost entirely
self-sustaining.

[Jim] The compound, it had
gardens for growing food,

it had a small cemetery,
various workshops.

[narrator] It even had
its own railway line

that would bring supplies
right to the door.

This was a...
a tiny little boomtown

built around ideas
of mental health.

[narrator]
Part of his radical reform
and mental health,

Campbell Clark
engineered an overhaul
in the training of nurses.

[Lynette] The specialty
of psychiatric nursing,

to this day,
owes some of its origins

to this institution
and to its visionary director.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] Hartwood discharged
more patients

than any other hospital
in the country,

yet some of its treatments
are outlawed today.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Jaega] It's safe to say
that people
in the local community

don't believe that
the conditions at Hartwood,
even under Campbell Clark,

were as humane
as they appeared on paper.

[Jim] The standards
of the care

of the mentally ill
in that era

were really quite dark.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Campbell Clark
was trialing
experimental new procedures,

[narrator] Campbell Clark
was trialing
experimental new procedures,

and despite his vision,

Hartwood would turn
into something else entirely.

In Scotland
is an abandoned 19th century
psychiatric asylum,

its chief physician,
Dr. Archibald Campbell Clark,

was considered
a pioneer in mental health,

and it's believed,
in these early days
of psychosurgery,

was trialing
a gruesome new procedure.

It would later become known
as a lobotomy.

It would later become known
as a lobotomy.

[Jaega] It is said
that Campbell Clark

was one of the early doctors
to perform lobotomies
on his patients.

[narrator] Viewed as
a kind of miracle cure,

surgeons would drill two holes
into the skull,

then insert a sharp,

spiked instrument
into the brain to cut
off the frontal lobe.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] In 1901,
Dr. Campbell Clark
died of influenza.

Some say he was
a pioneer in patient care,

others say he exploited
his position to experiment
on the vulnerable.

But after his death,

the horrors at Hartwood
only escalated.

[Lynette] The problem
is that Dr. Campbell Clark

dies a very young man,

dies a very young man,

but people who come after him

are not as dedicated

to rehabilitation
and to occupational therapy.

Over time,
the hospital population
grew dramatically

and
the conditions deteriorated.

[narrator] It's no wonder
Hartwood was seen
as a horror house,

anyone could
find themselves here.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Lynette] You could
be committed
for getting pregnant

'cause you couldn't
hold down a job,

or you could be sent
to an institution

because your relatives
didn't like you.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] By the end
of the 20th century,

reforms and legislation
sparked the beginning
of the end for Hartwood.

[Jim] By
the late 20th century,

the standards of care
for the mentally ill
had changed a lot.

Community Care Act
was an effort
to shut down the old asylums

and distribute patients

in smaller facilities
or... or in their own
communities

in smaller facilities
or... or in their own
communities

with some kind of
support system.

That was the end of the line
for Hartwood

and other large asylums
of that type.

[narrator] The hospital
closed in 1998.

Today, dedicated locals
like Lorraine

are on a mission to remember
the forgotten patients

and outcasts of Hartwood.

[Lorraine speaking]

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] The hospital's
medical and cemetery records

were either destroyed
or are missing,

leaving only numbers
for those who died.

[Lorraine speaking]

[narrator] In Iraq,
south of Baghdad,

on an endless desert plain,

lie the ruins of a lost city.

[Dominic]
This harsh landscape,

broken only by the Euphrates,
was once home

to the greatest city
the world had yet seen.

[Sascha] A city that
was not just

central to the culture
and politics of the region

but significant
in the entire history
of the civilized world.

but significant
in the entire history
of the civilized world.

When you first
see this site from above,

it looks like a labyrinth,

not just a hodgepodge
of different structures

but an actual maze.

This place is just massive
and it's surrounded
by huge fortified walls.

[narrator] But not everything
in this ruin is ancient.

[Dougal] You can see
the kind of classic
sort of ruins

that you might expect from
an old archaeological site

with... with walls
sort of crumbling away,

with... with walls
sort of crumbling away,

but then you turn a corner

and there is a wall
that looks like it was made
a couple of days ago.

So you've got this kind of
juxtaposition of old and new.

[narrator]
Stories of this place
have endured through time

in the pages of the Bible.

In its time, this was
one of the largest cities
on the planet.

[Jaega]
Tales of its construction

and the powerful ruler
who built it

still echo
around the world to this day.

Allegedly, this place was home
to one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World,

Allegedly, this place was home
to one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World,

but it's never been found,

prompting the question,
did it even exist?

[instrumental music playing]

[narrator] This is
the ancient city of Babylon,

the supposed home
to a lost wonder.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

are described
as this extraordinary feat
of engineering.

These layers
of lush vegetation,

These layers
of lush vegetation,

uh, fed through
a complex system of waterways

that by some accounts,
kind of defy gravity

as they rise up, um,
out of the desert plain.

[narrator]
But the ancient gardens
have disappeared.

[Dominic] The many
Greek and Roman accounts
of the Hanging Gardens

are all second hand,

though archaeologists
have searched in vain

for the exact location
of the Hanging Gardens.

[narrator] For two millennia,

[narrator] For two millennia,

people have only guessed

at the location
of the gardens of Babylon,

but in 1902, one man
believed he'd found it.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] Mohammed Tahir is
a scholar of ancient Babylon.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] This site
dates back over 2,000 years.

Part of its history
is written on the walls.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] Nebuchadnezzar II
was king of Babylonia.

[narrator] Nebuchadnezzar II
was king of Babylonia.

He claimed to be descended
from fabled rulers,

but his reign would see him
build a legend of his own.

[Sascha] Nebuchadnezzar II
is known as the greatest king

of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

He ruled over much of, what is
said, the Middle East,

from 604 to 562 BCE.

Nebuchadnezzar had
an interesting strategy

to ensure that his name
would live on into posterity.

to ensure that his name
would live on into posterity.

He had it carved
into many of the bricks.

[narrator] His most
lasting monument

is the surviving structures
of the ancient city
of Babylon,

the place where
he built his capital.

Well, he rebuilt Babylon
trying to top
the previous version.

Ancient sources say
the city had between
300 and 400 temples.

[narrator] And to defend
his capital city,

he built the Ishtar Gate.

[Mohammed speaking]

[Dougal]
So you can imagine you...
you sort of you...

you're allowed
through the Ishtar Gate

and you're presented with
this amazing processional way,

this... this... this artery
that runs north-south through
the whole of the city,

and this would have been used
for religious festivals

but also to parade
the armies up and down

as they... they went off
to fight their adversary.

as they... they went off
to fight their adversary.

[narrator] But
the processional way
is not like it once was,

the Ishtar Gate
in Babylon today is a fake.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] Nebuchadnezzar's
Babylon has stood
for nearly 3,000 years,

but its history
was damaged forever

but its history
was damaged forever

when it was reclaimed
by another despot.

[narrator] The
ancient city of Babylon
resides in modern-day Iraq.

In 1983, Nebuchadnezzar's
former capital

was under the rule
of Saddam Hussein.

Part of his vision was
to lead a pan-Arabist empire

that would stretch over
pretty much the same territory

as Nebuchadnezzar's had done
centuries earlier.

[Dougal] He kind of models
himself on these kings
of the past,

[Dougal] He kind of models
himself on these kings
of the past,

and what he does with Babylon,
instead of preserving it
or excavating it even further,

he starts
to actually build on it.

[narrator] It's said
that Nebuchadnezzar decreed,

when his grandsons return
to the city of Babylon,

they should rebuild it
to its former glory.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] Saddam built
his new monuments on top
of ancient Babylon,

but when he was deposed,
the city was abandoned,

with its history destroyed.

[Dominic] In my view,

the structures that
Saddam Hussein built
on the site should be removed.

Yes,
they're of historic relevance,

but they are not of global
historical significance

the way Babylon is
for the entire world.

the way Babylon is
for the entire world.

[narrator] Parts of Babylon
had been lost forever,

but one relic might have been
hidden in a place

where Saddam couldn't get
his hands on it.

In 1899,

famous archaeologist,
Robert Koldewey,

started
a large-scale excavation
of the site,

using comparatively
modern techniques.

[Dougal] During
the excavations,

it was in
the northeast corner that
they found, um, these chambers

and a kind of well,

and a kind of well,

and it was thought
that this might be a place

where they drew up water
to feed, um,
the gardens of Babylon.

[narrator] Robert Koldewey
discovered a basement
with 14 rooms

and stone arches.

They appeared to match
the descriptions

of the infamous Hanging
Gardens from ancient texts.

[Dougal] But it turns out

that this...
this sort of theory of the,
of the northeast corner

being the... the gardens
of Babylon was probably
not quite the case

'cause actually from,
uh, the... the architecture

'cause actually from,
uh, the... the architecture

and the fact that
this area was much lower

than
the surrounding buildings,

it meant that it
was probably used
as a kind of natural fridge.

So the hot air
of the desert rising,

this area would...
would maintain

a kind of low temperature
so you could
keep wine in there,

in effect, almost like
the local wine store.

[narrator] Robert Koldewey
left Babylon

without finding
its hanging gardens.

Now, after Saddam's
interventions,

they may never be found
at all.

[Jaega]
Currently, a large-scale
conservation project

hopes to train
local technicians
to help preserve this city

and ultimately
get it qualified
as a World Heritage Site.

[Mohammed speaking]

[narrator] Deep within
New Mexico's
Chihuahuan Desert,

among the rattlesnakes
and tumbleweeds,

sits a time capsule
of America's past.

[instrumental music playing]

There's nothing around
for miles on end,

just mountains and desert.

You're in these dry,
barren rolling hills.

And then here
is this little cluster

of very plain,
simple old buildings.

There's this dusty main street
that runs through
the center of the town.

There's this dusty main street
that runs through
the center of the town.

You can imagine that
there were probably
lots of people here before,

but now everything
is empty, everyone is gone.

[narrator]
Strewn with trinkets
from a bygone era,

it feels like only
a matter of time

before the rest of this place
is swallowed up by the desert.

[Alicia] There are
broken windows
and rotting timbers

and even rusty wagons.

and even rusty wagons.

The paint is peeled off
the walls.

There's not much left
in the way of furniture.

[narrator] And signs
of a violent past

recall a time
when this part of America

was beyond the reach of law.

[Rob] A noose hangs eerily
from one of the ceilings.

I'm not sure this is a town
I would have liked
to have spent much time in.

This really was
the Wild West,

it was a lawless frontier.

And one wrong step
and you could be shot
or hanged.

And one wrong step
and you could be shot
or hanged.

[Rob] People came
to make their fortune,

but what they found
was betrayal, violence
and retribution.

[narrator]
In the New Mexico desert

is a town with two names.

Dave Ochsenbine knows
how difficult it is
to live here.

This is very hot,
dry climate out here

and the ground is
very hard and rocky,

so this would've been
a pretty tough place to live.

People take it for granted
how easy we actually have it
in day-to-day life.

People take it for granted
how easy we actually have it
in day-to-day life.

[Alicia] It's a really
harsh climate
and environment.

But if there was
such a thriving town here,

then there was something
that made that worthwhile.

[Jim] Any time you see
man-made structures

in this kind of
barren environment,

you have to ask yourself,
"What brought people here?

Why would they build something
in this godforsaken place?"

[narrator] This town made its
early name

by mining the region's
rich silver deposits.

But in 1871,

But in 1871,

reports surfaced
that something
far more valuable

had been discovered here.

Diamonds.

[Jim] This was huge.

So miners come flooding in,
and back come the... the bars,

and the brothels,
and the people,
and the troublemakers,

this time
thinking they're gonna
get rich on diamonds.

[narrator] But the diamond
rush was only the latest

in a series
of underground discoveries
in the region,

one that started
when this place
was a water stop

in the middle
of the New Mexico desert.

in the middle
of the New Mexico desert.

[Jim] This little spot
had been used
by native peoples

for many centuries,

there's a small water source
here,

which is always important
in the desert.

[Dave]
So this army mail station

was the first building
on the property

because of that small spring,
constructed by the army
in 1856.

They could water
their horses up

while delivering orders
between forts.

So really, in the beginning,
this was just
a stopping point.

So really, in the beginning,
this was just
a stopping point.

There's no real reason
for people to actually
live here.

That is,
until an incredible discovery
was made.

[narrator] In 1870,

prospectors uncovered
silver deposits in the area,

and with global demand
for silver on the rise,

one veteran
of the California gold rush

stepped in to stake his claim
on this opportunity.

The big money came
from a guy named
William Ralston.

The big money came
from a guy named
William Ralston.

He was the head
of the Bank of California

and one of the most
influential business people
in the West at that time.

[Dave] With William Ralston's
financing, the town grew
pretty quickly.

You know, there'd be
3,000 miners
here during the first boom,

and there would've been
150 to 200 structures here
at that point.

In fact, as they began
to develop this town,

they named it Ralston
after the banker.

He had never been there,
but the town carried his name
regardless.

He had never been there,
but the town carried his name
regardless.

It was a little bit like
somebody might name a town

Morgan Stanley today
or something.

[narrator] A banker's name
was a stamp of quality,

but a scandal
was about to hit the town
of Ralston.

In 1871, a rumor got out
that diamonds were found

on one of
Ralston's properties,
at Lee's Peak,

which was not too far outside
of the town of Ralston.

Ralston was a big investor

in... in the diamond fields
that's within Lee's peak
out here.

in... in the diamond fields
that's within Lee's peak
out here.

[narrator] And with so much
at stake,

Ralston needed
to recruit outlaws
to protect his interests.

The hired guns
were to keep people away
from the mines.

Guys like Curly Bill Brocius
and Sandy King

would have been
a couple of the cowboys

that... that Ralston
had patrolling
the different hills here,

keeping people away
from the mines.

There was a lot of tension
between the miners
and Ralston's thugs.

There were many rumors
of fighting,

There were many rumors
of fighting,

and at one point,
it almost came to all-out war.

[narrator] The discovery
of diamonds

look set to put Ralston
on the map,

which it did,
but for the wrong reasons.

The great American geologist,
Clarence King,

was asked
to come in and look
into this claim

that there was a huge
diamond discovery in the West.

It all turned out
to be a scam.

[Rob] In reality,

[Rob] In reality,

two prospectors
planted diamonds
and other precious gems

in a remote spot,

in a bid to con Ralston
and other investors
to buying the land off them.

They'd actually bought
South African rough diamonds
in England

and brought them back
over to America.

[Alicia] Ralston's company
collapsed,

and by late 1873,

the town reverted to
pretty much
a desolate stagecoach stop.

Ralston died about
two years later.

Some people believe
it was by suicide,

Some people believe
it was by suicide,

but that's not actually
where the story
of this town stops.

[Rob] In 1879,

English mining engineer,
William G. Boyle, acquired
the dormant silver claims.

Boyle's investment
breathed new life
into the area

and sparked
a second boom period.

Boyle's first move
was to get rid
of the name Ralston

and replace it with someone
who was more widely revered,

William Shakespeare.

[country music playing]

[country music playing]

[narrator] But while Boyle
tried to erase the past,

the diamond scandal
would have deadly consequences

in the town of Shakespeare.

[narrator]
The town of Shakespeare

sought to clean up
its tarnished reputation,

but some old habits die hard.

Shakespeare had three saloons,
it had two blacksmiths,

two hotels, a meat market,

a mercantile shop,
and a lawyer.

But that doesn't mean
the law had come to town.

But that doesn't mean
the law had come to town.

[Dave] This was
the stagecoach station,

and this front room
would have been
the dining room

and it would have had
passengers stopping here.

As you can see,
this not only served
as a dining room,

but also served
as the hanging room as well.

The lack of tall trees
in the area,

if you needed a place
to stretch someone's neck,
and this became the room.

[narrator] In 1881,

two Wild West outlaws
met their end here.

two Wild West outlaws
met their end here.

One of the men, Sandy King,
was a hired gun
from the Ralston era.

[Alicia] On one occasion,

Sandy King
got into an altercation
with a local storekeeper,

and King actually
pulled out his gun

and ended up shooting
the storekeeper's finger off.

So King was promptly arrested.

At about the same time,

William Tattenbaum,
a friend of King's,

who was more commonly known
as Russian Bill,

was also arrested
for cattle rustling.

was also arrested
for cattle rustling.

[Dave] Local militia here
would get together,

and they'd already decided
they were gonna hang
Russian Bill,

and they figured
they might as well
just hang Sandy

at the same time.
That way, they only
have to dig the one hole.

[narrator] On the afternoon
of November
9th, 1881,

Sandy King and Russian Bill
were hanged from the neck
until dead.

This would be a terrible place
to be hung.

This wouldn't be a drop you
and break your neck.

This would be a pull you up,
you know, pull you up
and tie you off.

This would be a pull you up,
you know, pull you up
and tie you off.

The local militia
would just stand around

and wait until
the two men quit kicking.

And then these guys
all went back to their homes.

[narrator] Not long
after the deaths
of these two outlaws,

Shakespeare would become
a ghost town once again.

When the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company
completed their line,

they actually bypassed
the town by three miles.

And so once that happened,

everyone moved to Lordsburg,

which was the town
that was closest
to the tracks.

[soft country music playing]

[narrator] Today,

preserving Shakespeare
is a battle
against the elements,

one being fought
by Dave and his family.

[Dave] Well,
it's very important to me

because
of the family connection,

'cause they've spent
so many years here

trying to keep this...
this town going

and trying to keep
this preserved
for people to come and enjoy.

[Alicia] Towns like this
give us a lens

[Alicia] Towns like this
give us a lens

through which
to look at our history,

and they give us an insight
into these little towns
that made up the Wild West,

the lawless West
from, which our country
grew out of.

[narrator] In Germany

is the birthplace
of an item found
in every home.

[instrumental music playing]

[Sascha] Outside,
the place has the feeling
maybe of a hospital

or a sanatorium,

but inside,

you're confronted
with the fragile remains
of something very different.

[Alicia] This building
isn't watertight.

If it rains outside,
it's raining inside.

[Lynette] When you look
at these machines

and all of the industrial
investment in this place,

and all of the industrial
investment in this place,

it's easy to imagine
hardworking people coming here
to earn their living,

everything here,
clicking and whirring along
day after day,

why did they stop?

This is a huge complex,

and there's something
new to explore
around every corner.

There's machines,
there's old files
and documents.

But you also start
to feel a bit uneasy.

Why is it that every now
and again, something crunches
delicately underfoot?

Why is it that every now
and again, something crunches
delicately underfoot?

[instrumental music playing]

[narrator] When this place
was built,

Germany was a world leader
in a fine craft.

[Tim speaking
in foreign language]

[in English]
What fascinates me most
about this place

is that so much design history

could be created
in this quiet, remote place.

[narrator] Tim Morris
preserves the heritage
of this site.

[narrator] Tim Morris
preserves the heritage
of this site.

[in English] Since 1887,
there has only been
industry here,

which means that
a lot of export history
has been written.

[narrator] In every corner
are the fragile leftovers
of what was made here...

fine crafted porcelain.

[Alicia] Shelves upon shelves
of porcelain line the walls,

and so you almost
instinctively feel like

you need to watch your step
and be careful,

but this building
has already been ravaged.

but this building
has already been ravaged.

[narrator] This is
the Arzberg Factory.

It's one of many
porcelain plants
in Germany,

but this place
had a secret recipe.

Porcelain is
said to date back about
2,000 years,

and some of the earliest sites
of production are in China.

It was used to make
teacups and plates,

uh, but also decorative items,
like, intricate statues.

[Lynette] Some people
called it white gold

because it was so valuable,

because it was so valuable,

and only the Chinese
knew how to make porcelain.

[Alicia] The exact combination
of materials to produce
porcelain

can vary, but there is
one material that is necessary

and that's kaolin
or china clay.

[narrator] But at the start
of the 18th century,

China's secret was uncovered.

One German engineer discovers
the right temperature

One German engineer discovers
the right temperature

and just the right additives,

and suddenly,
anybody can make porcelain.

[narrator]
With the secret out,
China's monopoly was over.

Now, white gold could be made
on the European continent.

So, German porcelain,
coming from Bavaria,

can be sold all over Europe

as an alternative
to the porcelain
coming from China.

as an alternative
to the porcelain
coming from China.

[narrator]
By the 19th century,

Germany was a world leader
in fine ceramics,

but this factory would change
the industry forever.

In 1887,
as German porcelain thrived,

a factory was built
in the town of Arzberg.

[in English]
We are in the oldest part
of the factory

still standing.

[narrator] It was
under the management
of a man called Lehmann.

Theodor Lehmann
is a German son
of a porcelain potter

Theodor Lehmann
is a German son
of a porcelain potter

who becomes
a porcelain industrial baron.

He turns the business
from a craft

into an industrial process.

[in English] We know that
Theodor Lehmann

had a flat
on the factory premises

but not exactly where it was.

but not exactly where it was.

You can almost imagine him
standing here at the window,
drinking a coffee.

[Alicia] At this time,
German products
were dominating markets,

and so Great Britain
actually passed
the Merchandise Mark Act,

which would require
that any product
that was produced in Germany

had to have a stamp or a seal
that essentially said
that it was made in Germany.

had to have a stamp or a seal
that essentially said
that it was made in Germany.

And the hope was
that this would deter people
from buying them,

but it ends up becoming
the sort of seal of approval
or a seal of quality.

[narrator] But one man
believed that Lehmann
was selling a bad product.

[Lynette] Hermann Gretsch
comes up to Lehmann

and he says,
"That shape of pot
is useless.

Your soup tureen is shaped

so that you can never get
the last bit of soup
out of the bowl with a ladle."

so that you can never get
the last bit of soup
out of the bowl with a ladle."

And the answer is,

"Well, could you do
any better?"

And Gretsch says,
"Well, I happen to be
a pottery designer

and I can do better."

[narrator] Gretsch was hired
to design a new style
with modern appeal

and an ergonomic shape.

He called his concept
Form 1382.

And it is an entire set
of tableware

that's designed
to look harmonious together,

and it becomes

the classic
German middle-class tableware.

[Alicia] The fact that
you could buy
individual pieces

to make your own set
kind of democratized
porcelain,

it made it something
that everyday people
could buy,

and it was no longer something
just for the elite.

and it was no longer something
just for the elite.

[narrator] Form 1382 could
be found on the tables
of modest European homes

or in grand estates
of world leaders.

Gretsch is really
German, so his designs

become the standard
German pottery designs.

And everyone in Germany,
maybe even Hitler,

has got Arzberg china
right there
on their dinner tables.

has got Arzberg china
right there
on their dinner tables.

[in English] Production
continued during
the Second World War,

however increasingly
only on the back-burner.

It is known that
forced laborers were
also used later on.

There were difficulties
in the supply of raw materials

and production stoppages.

The factory
was also hit by Allied bombs.

[Sascha]
But all this devastation

had an unexpected consequence
for the porcelain factory.

In the years after the war,

In the years after the war,

ordinary people rushed
to replace all the belongings

that have been destroyed
in the course of the war.

And if not
for that devastation
and loss,

the '50s and '60s
wouldn't have been such
a booming time for business.

So people literally stood
on line to buy porcelain.

It wasn't a commodity
of the elite anymore.

It was something
that every household needed.

[narrator] Form 1382
transformed the fortunes
of German porcelain.

[narrator] Form 1382
transformed the fortunes
of German porcelain.

But this golden age
didn't last forever.

[Lynette] After
the Second World War,

Japanese manufacturers
start to take over
global markets,

and Japanese makers

are able to compete
globally for exactly
the same buyers.

And German porcelain makers
who can't compete

have to merge.

[in English]
The main production went
to another owner.

After that,
several porcelain plates
were produced here,

but it was not profitable.

So, in 2002, after 150 years
of design history,

it was finally over.

[narrator] Today,
the Arzberg Factory
remains frozen in time.

[narrator] Today,
the Arzberg Factory
remains frozen in time.

[Sascha] Not much remains
from the proud days
of Hermann Gretsch,

except shelf after shelf
bending under the weight
of this porcelain.

It's still pristine
after all this time,

which is a real testament

to the durability
of this amazing product.