Professional potters and imaginative artists are very much at home in the Kannenbäckerland The three jugs on the coat of arms of the town of Höhr-Grenzhausen are a clue that pottery has played an important role in this area the Kannenbäckerland has developed its own ceramic culture from the craft to the artistic scene to high-tech ceramics which still forms the backbone of this little Westerwald town’s global reputation as a centre for ceramics potters from the Rhineland region and Lothringen settled in the Westerwald to get to know the source of the material better: The clay from the Westerwald has properties that are excellent for the production of stoneware Today, not only are there lots of little potteries in and around Höhr-Grenzhausen, there is also a ceramic training and research centre and the largest ceramics museum in Europe you can find out lots about the long history of the bluey-grey stoneware traces of which can be found almost everywhere in the world an archaeologist who also works at the ceramics museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen explains the travels of Pastor Leonhard Meurer who visited many West African countries in the late sixties and onwards and kept coming across Westerwald stoneware He asked the owners in remote villages on the Ivory Coast in Ghana and Burkina Faso and found out that only tribal elders kings and those in privileged positions were allowed to drink from these vessels They were gifts from European traders or given in exchange for gold The jugs have been passed down from generation to generation and can never be sold as they believe this would bring bad luck on the family Their ancestors would be more likely to forgive them for exchanging them Forming ceramics at ceramics museum Höhr-Grenzhausen When William of Orange was crowned king of Great Britain it became the custom to decorate the jugs with the initials of the ruler They can be seen in the display cabinets in the ceramic museum exhibition As well as the initials ‘WR’ for William Rex and ‘AR; for his successor Queen Anne as of 1714 there are lots of jugs bearing the monogram ‘GR’ who was crowned George I of Great Britain that year With the introduction of fine white porcelain the stoneware disappeared from noble tables but it was still indispensable in grand kitchens The containers are perfect for the pantry: they keep bread fresh and stop onions and garlic going off too quickly The salt-glazed stoneware is fired at a temperature of 1220 degrees in cooking salt Thousands of salt crystals are arranged around the stoneware to create the indestructible glaze The result is a sintered ceramic that does not absorb smells and is resistant to acids View of the exhibition pieces in the ceramics museum Exhibition in the ceramics museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen Once just the supplier of these famous cans and jugs the Kannenbäckerland has now developed into a centre for ceramic crafts and training ceramics are indispensable in the modern automotive industry and in medical technology The Ceramics Training and Research Centre (BFZK) and Europe’s largest ceramics museum can be found in Höhr-Grenzhausen With its ceramics and salt-glazed stoneware the Kannenbäckerland around Höhr-Grenzhausen is a real artists’ landscape in which potters are not only constantly producing new ideas from the famous Westerwald clay but also presenting their handiwork to visitors where exhibitors from all over Europe show off their range of ceramic wares We've had virtual events but there's nothing quite like the real thing and today sees day two of the Exo Tennis event in Germany. There's also table tennis with the Top of Austria Challenge taking place on Saturday night. With countries around the world starting to ease lockdown measures, more events should start to spring up although the vast majority of these will be behind closed doors. Meanwhile, top athletes are making the best of the current situation by using their imagination to keep up their training routine. ⚽ Relive the best football moments from Paris 2024 🏅","event":null,"destination_url":"","entry_point_tag":"football","entry_point_type":"instory_campaign"}" data-tracking="click" href="https://www.olympics.com/en/sign-in?entry_point_type=instory_campaign&entry_point_tag=football&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.olympics.com%2Fen%2Folympic-games%2Fparis-2024%2Fvideos" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love football ⚽ Relive the best football moments from Paris 2024 🏅 The main tennis tours have been suspended for months due to COVID-19 but the small town of Hoehr-Grenzhausen is staging an event for players based in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate Dustin Brown, who once stunned Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon is the best-known man in the field although Yannick Hanfman is the highest-ranked player at 143 There are no ball boys or line judges with just the two players and chair umpire on the court for each televised match comprising first-to-four games sets with no advantage scoring Brown and Hanfman scored two wins on Friday and they'll be hoping to maintain their unbeaten records on Saturday with everything that is actually going on in the world." Table tennis does not require nearly as much space as tennis and arranging a makeshift venue can be done at fairly short notice This is what has happened with the Top of Austria Challenge which will take place at the television centre of Austrian national broadcaster ORF in Vienna Reigning national champion Daniel Habesohn meets Stefan Fegerl in the men's encounter before Rio 2016 flagbearer and five-time Olympian Liu Jia faces 21-year-old Karoline Mischek Then comes a twist as the winners and losers play again but with the women getting a six-point start on the men in each of the maximum five games While at the Barca Academy, the youth programme of Spanish giants FC Barcelona, a youngster by the name of Riley has been going viral. View this post on Instagram Wooow Riley!! . Another amazing trick!! #DontTryThisAtHome A post shared by Barça Academy (@barcaacademy) on Apr 29 Even Barcelona great and Olympic gold medallist Lionel Messi would be proud of some of Riley's ball skills For double triathlon Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee the COVID-19 situation has added more uncertainty to his future plans Jonny turned 30 on Thursday with his celebrations limited to "ordering a takeaway burger from his local pub in Yorkshire" Current restrictions mean the pair cannot train together as normal but both are swimming with Alistair enjoying cycling on an indoor turbo trainer and racing against others on virtual platforms Alistair also talked about his attempts at the Ironman following up his disappointing 21st at last October's World Championships in Hawaii before victory in Western Australia six weeks later "I’m proud I turned it around pretty quick because Western Australia is a hard Ironman in the heat My attention then switched to the Olympics I was training as hard as I could for the short distances Six weeks ago I was thinking: ‘I’m going well here The Olympics could be on.’ And then the lockdown came." On winning a third triathlon gold in Tokyo but there’re a lot of challenges ahead." Alistair Brownlee retained his Olympic triathlon title at Rio 2016 bettering his bronze on home soil at London 2012 While the Brownlees are all but assured of places in Tokyo next year spare a thought for American track cyclist Mandy Marquardt The 28-year-old sprint specialist was almost certain to be named to her first Olympics but the Games' postponement means she has to earn her place all over again Marquardt has been through tougher battles in her life she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes but credits her father with giving her the mental strength to overcome that news so I knew it was something I wanted to do." As well as the common issues athletes are facing with training during COVID-19 measures Marquardt also has to keep a close eye on her blood sugar levels A post shared by Mandy Marquardt (@mandymarquardt) on Apr 22 Indian javelin record holder Annu Rani had to return home from training in South Africa in March due to COVID-19 travel restrictions coming into force During her 14 days in quarantine at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala a nationwide lockdown was imposed in India meaning Annu has had to stay there but the 27-year-old is keeping herself occupied "There is a small area near our hostel I jog for around 15-20 minutes and then do stepping for some time There are some weights with us - so what exercises we have been advised to do - I am doing them to keep up my fitness levels "I watch videos of big players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Phelps and what struggles they faced in their careers You get to learn a lot from learning about them." A finalist at last year's World Championships in Doha Annu also says she plans to continue focusing on sport even when the lockdown ends One of the biggest stars in the world of athletics is marathon king Eliud Kipchoge The reigning Olympic champion and world record holder made history by running the first sub-two hour marathon in Vienna last October You would have thought that breaking two hours for the marathon would be a fitting way to end a career But not for Kipchoge who says he will defend his Olympic title at Tokyo 2020 Hear from the man himself and his wife Grace Sugut pacemaker Bernard Lagat and Kenya's deputy president William Ruto on what his Vienna marathon challenge means for sport and humanity as a whole Olympic Channel caught up with the Kenyan recently and asked him about his plans and how he is dealing with the current situation It is that time in marathon where we are really struggling to go up the hill." The first man to run a marathon under two hours explains why mind power is key in running Kenya's world record-holding gold medallist also told us why it's so important for him to defend his Olympic title in Tokyo Don't forget that there is other great content on Olympic Channel with the Classic Finals Channel and the Olympic Ceremonies Channel still going strong There's actually a Classic Final right now on Olympic Channel TV - Andy Murray who won this week's virtual Madrid Open against Juan Martin del Potro in the Rio 2016 men's singles gold medal match Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Although you are probably more familiar with it in blue-grey The soil of the Westerwald boasts the largest and best quality clay reserves in Europe So it is hardly surprising that there is a tradition of pottery here Business was booming until the middle of the 20th century the heyday of the ceramics industry is now long gone the Kannenbäckerland region still provides plenty of opportunities to discover just how the clay is turned into a range of ceramic products.  Traditional stoneware made of clay is shaped on the potter's wheel there are lots of ways to find out how the soft natural material is transformed into crockery The Girmscheid pottery in Höhr-Grenzhausen is one of the few still producing the traditional blue-grey salt-glazed stoneware A guided tour of the works allows you to observe the potters at work The whole range is available to admire or purchase in the factory shop. When the market for the traditional stoneware dwindled many manufacturers looked for other niches From everyday designer ceramics including wonderfully delicate to ceramic jewellery and all sorts of artistic creations ranging from the avant-garde to the naive There are numerous workshops where you can watch the artists at work and find out just how interesting and varied ceramics can be You can also get an excellent overview at the Keramikmuseum Westerwald It is one of the largest ceramics museums in Europe and showcases the fascinating connections between art You can see examples of nearly everything made from clay in the past and the present The Keramikmuseum is also completely accessible to disabled people and wheelchair users The European Ceramics Market in Höhr-Grenzhausen is also a highlight Around 150 exhibitors from all over Europe showcase everything modern ceramics has to offer in a market area extending some 500 metres As well as everyday pottery and decorative ceramics all related to the white gold of the Westerwald How about a visit and a souvenir to take home with you The ceramics museum presents a variety of exhibits Ceramic objects are handmade and artistically refined At the end of his eventful trip through Rhineland‑Palatinate Martin Seidler arrives at the raw beauty of the Kannenbäckerland in the lovely Westerwald Clay has been shaping the life and works of the specialist potters and creative craftsmen here for more than 7,000 years It is an ancient art that is still mostly hand-crafted to this day Machines do not help much with delicate work The video shows you how the typical blue colour of the Westerwald ceramics is made but tennis fans can get their fix from Friday when a series of exhibition matches will be streamed live from a rural German venue the ATP and WTA Tours are suspended until July 13 at the earliest tennis fans can enjoy live coverage of an eight-man tournament at the Base Tennis Academy in the tiny town of Hoehr-Grenzhausen who famously beat Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon in 2015 none of whom are ranked in world’s top 100 “I’m really excited about it,” Hanfmann told AFP subsidiary SID The academy’s courts are already equipped with cameras and the matches will be streamed worldwide only the two players and chair umpire will be allowed on the clay courts at any one time which has 62 million subscribers in the USA alone will broadcast the three-legs of the tournament on Friday and then May 7 and May 14 I’m curious to see how many people will be watching,” admitted Hanfmann When the coronavirus pandemic first hit Germany in mid-March “whom I usually don’t see so often and for so long at a stretch” even if only a few hundred euros of prize money will be at stake Hanfmann will have free board and lodgings at the academy He is just about managing to make ends meet having earned $543,000 in prize money during his career “I have built up a few savings and I am not one to throw money away,” he added he does not think much of the idea by superstars Novak Djokovic Nadal and Roger Federer that the top 100-ranked players pay into a fund to provide financial support for low-ranking players “Why should the players below the top ten be responsible for making others feel better?” he asked