Painting imperial format brick of a wine cellar

The basement was newly built in 2002. The bricks are already somewhat older – unfortunately, I don’t know how old.

Pretty old. By Reichsformat bricks is meant that they probably come from house demolitions – I hardly think anyone would produce them new again. In pictures, you would only be able to see that they are solid bricks – but the minimal size difference to today's "normal format" (Reichsformat was one centimeter longer, half a centimeter wider, and six millimeters flatter) is not noticeable there. However, that is enough to make them structurally unusable in current buildings. Therefore, they are used either purely decoratively or for very small construction projects. So if someone wants to build a grill or wine racks.

Immediately after the fall of the Reich / end of the Second World War, the young Federal Republic had more important things to do than change brick formats. I cannot say exactly right now whether the new format came in 1952 or 1957. The Reichsformat resulted in a grid of 13 cm, thus a multiple of one meter and four. Through the change of the format, measurement numbers "repeat" again in a smooth meter rhythm, which is easier to remember.

The larger a wall surface, the more disturbing this small deviation is. Therefore, there is no reason to produce the old format anew today (for decorative use purpose, the market supply with demolition material is sufficient). Reichsformat bricks are therefore at least 60 years old; it was introduced in 1872.

Apart from the slightly different format, they are regular solid bricks. Since they are always "old," they appear less "clone identical" than new bricks, although they were also industrial products. And they were commonly used as solid bricks – today’s bricks are more often perforated. With solid bricks, you have more freedom to also lay them on their side during processing.

For a coat of paint – which I consider nonsense – this means: the suitable colors would be exactly the same as for today’s bricks.

Uh, sorry... he looks like a Dutchman, so he doesn't necessarily have to be old!

In short, greetings

First of all, thanks for the answers and especially the historical background!!

So, I asked again.
Suddenly there was talk of some kind of clear lacquer to make it shine nicely.
Personally, I don’t really think much of it myself. But the basement doesn’t belong to me, the basement.
What kind of clear lacquer could that be?

Thanks!
Martin