Stefan Donhauser learned to work with ceramics according to all the rules of the trade and then trained as a master craftsman and ceramic designer at the technical school for ceramic design in Höhr-Grenzhausen. Since 1993 he has been working successfully as a freelance sculptor: exhibitions at home and abroad have documented his work, which has won many awards, and in many places it can also be found in public spaces. Perhaps the best known of these, the 7-meter-high figure group "King and Fool" in Dissen, is considered one of the largest ceramic figures ever made. What distinguishes Donhauser's work is the combination of the highest craftsmanship with subtle humor. In contrast to the pictorial tradition, his "crowned" heads - figures with the physiognomy of ordinary people on whom he places shining golden crowns - do not radiate an embellished royal dignity, but rather appear regal in their human normality.