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.

The manufacture of unglazed fine stoneware is characterised by a number of diverse transformation processes shaping the structure and colour of the end product. Our high-quality tiles are manufactured using select raw materials and employing elaborate treatment technology and computer-controlled hydraulic presses. Following the drying process, tiles are baked in a roller hearth kiln at 1,240°C for approximately 2 hours.
Electronic monitoring cameras and optical calibration instruments ensure consistently high quality in terms of uniformity of colour, calibre, flatness of surface, quality of surface finish and geometric dimensions. The result is a homogeneous product displaying all the advantages of densely sintered fine stoneware.
Unbeatable attributes, such as high load-bearing capacity, resilience to the impact of mechanical abrasion and resistance to acids, alkaline solutions and frost are an essential element of the quality characteristics of ZF tiles.