The company was founded by Carl Hugo Pott in 1904 and began as a workshop for damascening knives. Damascening was at that time an art. Today it is not so well-known. However, at the beginning of the last century it was unusual for a hunting-knife, pocket-knife, sword or dagger to leave the factory without its blade having been richly and emblematically decorated. It was only when Carl Pott Jr. joined his father's firm in 1932 that the independent manufacture of cutlery began.

Carl Pott's influence on the business was seminal. He completed an apprenticeship as a damascener and galvaniser. During his training he became acquainted with the principles of Bauhaus and Werkbund.

From the mid-thirties on he developed a new, progressive generation of cutlery designs. The classic POTT style grew out of a rigorous renunciation of florid ornamentation and decorative adornment. Its aesthetic charm lies in its sculptural appeal. The essence and purpose of the cutlery remain the starting points for the creative design process.

Carl Pott aspired to a form which was for the user both functional and aesthetically pleasing; which was without the grand airs of fashion; which was durable in its style and quality.

In 1935, with his sleek, simple Model 2716, Carl Pott laid the foundation stone for a range of cutlery which would stand out impeccably from the wares of all other cutlery manufacturers in Germany. This cutlery design was awarded the "Diplom d'Honneur" at the World Fair of 1937 in Paris. Winning this prestigious international award encouraged the then 31 year-old Carl Pott to further pursue the clear and functional design form.

One of the central tenets of the German Werkbund was the collaboration of the artist in industry. From the outset Carl Pott took this very seriously. Already in the 19th century larger businesses had taken pains to secure the enduring collaboration of high-profile artistic personalities in their design studios. For instance Peter Behrens, famous for his extensive design work for the AEG, created cutlery designs for the Düsseldorf firm Franz Banner AG and the Saxony-based firm August Wellner. In Solingen - one of the most important European metropoles for the cutlery industry - the engagement of an artistic adviser was a rare exception.

Carl Pott broke with local tradition. He sought contact with talented creators in the field of applied arts. He entrusted Hermann Gretsch, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Josef Hoffmann, Elisabeth Treskow and Hans Schwippert with the design of his cutlery. Carl Pott used their versatile creativity to enrich and enliven his range of products.

Carl Pott wrote a piece of cultural history. His products have achieved worldwide recognition for exemplary design and exceptional quality and have been displayed in more than 30 museums and design exhibitions (including the Museum of Modern Art, New York).

Carl Pott died in 1985, leaving his only son with a cultural heritage and an enormous responsibility.

Between 1985 and 2001 the family business was run by Hannspeter Pott. In the family's third generation cutlery and tableware continue to be manufactured from stainless steel, silver and silver-plated alpaca (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc).

The designs produced by Carl Pott have not lost their validity. Hannspeter Pott was able to fall back on his father's enormous creative potential. Nonetheless he set himself the task of keeping the collection up-to-date by incorporating young design. Without concessions to fashion and short-lived market trends.

In the summer of 2001 Hannspeter Pott, who has no children himself, took measures to ensure Pott’s successful continuity into the future. The renowned knife manufacturer Friedr. Dick, also a family business steeped in tradition, with a high reputation above all for producing first-class professional knives, became Pott’s parent company. Production and offices remain in Solingen. And Hannspeter Pott continues to be closely associated with Pott in an advisory capacity.

Since 1990 Friedrich Becker (†1997), Ljubisa Misic and Ralph Krämer have been designing products for POTT.

The knife series created by Ralph Krämer with knives like PICADO, FORMADO, CARNADO and PANADO altered the market and set new standards. These recent designs are already to be found in renowned museums and have won many awards.

Tobias Huys designed the spaghetti tester AL DENTE for POTT in 2000, followed in 2002 by the tasting spoon-fork AL GUSTO. Both products have met with great acclaim and successfully carried forward the in-house tradition. Innovative design, functionalism and quality are the criteria to which Pott has committed itself.

The POTT range of products is produced with loving attention to detail and, even in the Internet age, painstaking handcrafting. The traditional art of handwork is indispensable if extraordinary design is to be effectively realised.

In the manufacture of POTT products it is people, not machines, who dictate the quality. A knife with a high-tensile, forged blade, depending on the model, will go through up to 90 different stages of manufacture. A fork or a spoon more than 30. The result of all this extravagance and loving attention to detail is tangible: sculptural appeal; ergonomic function; harmony of form.
Criteria which would necessarily be compromised in mass-production. Nonetheless there are still people in our Internet society who retain a feeling for quality, ergonomic function and considered design.

Today's market is flooded with cheap imports and characterised by declining quality and saturation. In contrast to this, a quality product must combine first-class materials, superlative workmanship and enduring elegance. This is the only way to produce something special. For people who can tell the difference.