 Initially they were a private business, but from 1761 were owned by the local ruler, like most German porcelain factories of the period.The porcelain factory in Frankenthal was established in 1755 by the Hannong family, who had previously manufactured porcelain, as well as Strasbourg faience, in Strasbourg until Louis XVI established a state monopoly on porcelain in favour of the Sèvres factory and closed down all others.Karl Hannong transferred his business to an empty barracks in Frankenthal, just outside Mannheim, and staffed it with his Strasbourg workforce, under a privilege from the local ruler Elector Carl Theodor of Bavaria, who visited the factory himself in the following year, once production was well under way.