Potter; b. April 12, 1830, Lemgo, Germany. Trained as a potter in his native state of Lippe-Detmold (Germany), Conrad Langenberg relocated to the German Calvinist settlement of Franklin, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin in 1855 (at that time known as Lippers' Mills). Using red earthenware clay he dug from the banks of the Sheboygan River, Langenberg produced pottery in the summer kitchen attached to his house between 1856 and 1893.  He reportedly sold his pottery from a two-wheeled cart, as well as from his front porch and at local agricultural fairs.  Regarding his craft, he is said to have commented "Wir machen unser Geld aus Dreck" ("We potters make our money from dirt."). 

Langenberg married Louise Schaferkort on October 23, 1861, shortly after she arrived in Wisconsin from Lippe-Detmold.  The couple had five daughters: Anna, b. 1867; Louise, b. 1869; Pauline, b. 1871; Emilie, b. 1873; and Bertha, b. 1875.  From October 15, 1864 to May 17, 1865 Langenberg served as a guard of Confederate prisoners at Camp Randall, Madison.  After about 1880, his primary focus shifted from pottery to agriculture, although he continued to produce pottery as late as 1893.  He died July 16, 1899 of nephritis and grippe, and is buried at the cemetery of Immanuel Evangelical Reformed Church, Town of Hermann, Sheboygan County. View examples of Langenberg's work in the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database and an article about him by Mark Knipping in the Wisconsin Academy Review 30:2 (1984).

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[Source: Mark Knipping, "A Nineteenth Century Wisconsin Potter: Conrad Langenberg," Wisconsin Academy Review 30:2 (1984); Kenneth Dearolf, Wisconsin Folk Pottery (Kenosha Public Museum, 1986).]