Elfriede Balzar Kopp was born in 1904 in Bendorf, Luxembourg. From 1924-26 she studied at the State Engineering and ceramic college in Hohr-Grenzhausen; then from 1926-27, she studied and worked at the State Majolica Factory Karlsruhe, completing her training with Professor Ludwig Konig. She opened her own studio in 1927 in Hohr-Grenzhausen, which she an until her death in 1983.
Elfriede Balzar-Kopp gained a Masters degree in 1937, becoming the first German woman achieve this. She also gained a Certificate of Honour – World Expo Paris & Gold Medal crafts exhibition in Berlin
In 1954 she was awarded the Diploma of the Milan Triennial Design College, and in 1958 gained an Honourable Mention / Ceramic International Syracuse & Honorary Diploma of the World Exhibition in Brussels. Elfriede Balzar-Kopp’s other accolades include:
- 1961 Bavarian State Prize with Gold Medal, Munich
- 1962 Silver Medal of the exhibition ‘Ceramique International’ in Prague
- 1965 Honorary Award of the German Ceramic Society “German Ceramics of the present ” Museum of Applied Arts Nuremberg
- 1973 prize for salt-glazed stoneware in Westerwald Prize for ceramics
- 1974 Federal Cross of Merit 1974
