As early as in 1891, the company Utzschneider und Ed. Jaunez established a plant producing clay slabs in Zahna, near Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany, manufacturing tiles by means of a dry-pressing technique. At the time, the decisive factor for the choice of location was the proximity of the nearby clay pits and the anticipated market in the up-and-coming capital city of Berlin. The plan paid off and the plant grew. In the 1930s, the "mosaic slab plant" in Zahna, at that time the third largest tile factory in Germany, employed over 600 workers.
Today, Zahna-Fliesen GmbH is using state-of-the-art high speed firing technology to manufacture fine stoneware tiles for the industrial sector as well as attractive tiles for use in the renovation and restoration of historic buildings.