Sauerland textile industry
The Sauerland textile industry emerged in the 19th century, not least as a reaction to the loss of income opportunities due to the crisis in the mining industry in the wake of the rise of the Ruhr area .
Crisis in pre-industrial textile production in the Sauerland
Since the early modern period, there have been approaches to market-based textile production in the Duchy of Westphalia , also supported by the sovereigns (for example through industrial schools). At the beginning of the 19th century there were still numerous home-made woolen weavers in the town of Neheim , but these were quickly pushed out of the market by industrial mass production. By 1849, commercial textile production had already disappeared as the main occupation in large parts of the region. But also the part-time textile production in the home industry declined more and more. In the Brilon district, for example, almost 400 part-time weavers were counted in the 1850s, a few years later their number had already dropped to 94. In the Meschede district in particular, there were attempts to establish a modern textile industry instead of the old trade. In 1832 the first cloth factory was built near Wehrstapel . In the following years, further factories for the production of linen fabrics and suppliers such as spinning mills were added. However, this approach already lost momentum in the second half of the 19th century, and most businesses ceased operations in the following decades.
Creation of the Schmallenberg textile industry
In Schmallenberg there had been considerable attempts at canvas production in the Middle Ages (Schmallenberger Wullenweber already owned a fulling mill in 1416 ) and at the beginning of the early modern period. The products were sold locally under the name "Schmallenberger Wand". The importance of the trade is also indicated by the fact that the council and the merchants issued a " Kauf- und Wandhausordnung " in 1560 and the guild was apparently so wealthy that they were able to build a " Kauf- und Wandhaus " directly on the market shortly before . In 1626 the statutes of the " Guild of the Holy Spirit " were established, in which cloth makers and tailors were organized. The Schmallenberg population register from 1648 allows a conclusion about the extent of the textile industry at that time. At any given time, there were 22 woolen weavers working in Schmallenberg, which made up 32% of the independent craftsmen (excluding the food industry). Presumably in connection with the Thirty Years' War, the importance of the textile industry seems to have declined. It was only able to recover on a fairly modest basis in the 18th century. In the period around 1800 there was a leather trade and some commercial linen weavers in addition to the metal trade. In 1827 there were a total of seven linen weavers in Schmallenberg. That number rose to twenty-three by 1841. Only the leading metalworking industry has always been larger than the industrial weavers. In the decades that followed, linen weavers had to give way to the competition for machine-made fabrics. In 1861, after the brief boom, there were no more commercial linen weavers in Schmallenberg.
After the decline of the pre-industrial mining trade, the manufacture of textiles seemed to be a way out and a protection against unemployment. From the 1830s and 1840s, wool jacket weaving spread in the region. They were sold by the traveling traders in the upper Sauerland. Around the middle of the 19th century, stockings were also manufactured commercially on the same basis. In an at least partly factory-industrial setting, the Störmann & Bitter company began producing stockings and jackets in the 1850s. A spinning mill was attached. In the following years other companies such as Gebrüder Vogt (1952) from neighboring Gleidorf, Wilhelm Freimuth (1858), Wilhelm Dahm (1865) and Meisenburg (1865) were added. The first stocking knitting machine (System Lamp) in Schmallenberg was acquired by Franz Kayser around 1868/69. In April 1870 August Veltins and Joseph Wiethoff took over the Störmann & Bitter company, in which they were previously active.
In 1871 the companies Veltins and Wiethoff, the Stern brothers, Franz Kayser, Wilhelm Dahm, Jacob Meisenburg, the Vogt brothers and the Siepe brothers produced in Fleckenberg. The rise of the Schmallenberg textile industry was related to the Franco-German War of 1870/71. Schmallenberg soldiers reported that Kayser socks and Störmann jackets were worn in the field. In the period up to 1886 other companies were established: Salomon Stern, Caspar Rinke, Sophie Stecker , Franz Pape in Fleckenberg, Ferdinand Klauke in Holthausen and Didam, Kayser and Bitter with a branch factory in Fredeburg. In 1890 the four Schmallenberg companies Veltins and Wiethoff, Salmon Stern, Jacob Meisenburg and Didam, Kayser and Bitter produced textiles for 710,000 marks. Together they employed 323 workers. Five years later (1895) other companies such as Franz Ax, Carl Schulte and Ludwig Bergenthal were founded. One of the most successful companies was the Falke-Rohen company founded in 1895 (later: Falke ). The Falke-Rohen company took over the Meisenburg company in 1918 and the Stern company in 1938.
Knitting companies were also founded in neighboring Bad Fredeburg . Starting from the Schmallenberg area, a number of wool-processing companies emerged in various places in the Upper Sauerland up to the Olpe district , mostly for the production of stockings. Some of them were self-employed, others were branches of larger companies. A characteristic of the textile industry around Meschede and Schmallenberg was that they only partially completed the transition to the factory industry. As a rule, a mixed production system developed in these industries. On the one hand, the manufacturers had centralized factories; on the other hand, part of the production capacity was relocated to the field of “domestic external work”. Another characteristic was that both industries were strongly dominated by female workers. One reason for this structure was the production methods. In the first few decades, they were made mechanically in the factory or, less effectively, traditionally with knitting needles. The introduction of a hand knitting machine in the 1870s also increased the production of homeworkers. This double structure persisted well into the 20th century. However, by the end of the 19th century, the centralized production area became more important, initially based on steam engines and after the turn of the century driven by electric motors. This also increased the number of male workers, for example as technicians.
Economic situation in the 19th and early 20th centuries
In 1853, a foreman in the Schmallenberg textile factory Störmann & Bitter earned an average of 1 thaler per day. A helper earned 12½ groschen and a day laborer 7½ groschen. At that time, half a thaler was a good salary compared to the supra-regional area. Even with the “good earnings” of around 150 thalers a year, employees could just feed their families.
The industry experienced an upswing in the early 1870s due to the hand knitting machine and large orders from the army. The proximity to the Ruhr area as a nearby sales market also proved beneficial during the German Empire. Since the 1890s, with the introduction of steam power and the use of new machines, there has been a new surge in investment and growth. Despite the positive development in the last decades of the German Empire, only a few companies (such as Falke) achieved industrial dimensions. Even the largest company employed only a hundred workers. Most of the smaller companies stuck to the manual knitting machines due to a lack of capital, made little profit and often faced collapse in times of economic crisis. The complaints of the Chamber of Commerce about competition from the knitwear produced in Prussian prisons in the 1890s and the first years of the 20th century were indicative of the economic situation of the stocking knitting factories.
Structural importance
Although the textile industry was undoubtedly of great importance for individual places, its influence on the overall economic development of the Sauerland districts remained limited. According to the population and occupational census of 1882, only about 550 people were employed in this area in the Meschede district. In the following decades the number of employees in the textile industry only increased slowly. In 1907 there were less than 800 employees, and it wasn't until 1925 that the textile industry employed a little over a thousand people. In the district of Meschede, textile production had risen to become the strongest branch in the manufacturing sector in the long term, but it could not compensate for the loss of earning opportunities in other areas. Due to the predominant female work, there was a lack of employment opportunities for male workers even in the centers of the textile industry.
Expansion and concentration processes in the period after the Second World War
After the Second World War, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, the Schmallenberg textile industry experienced its greatest boom. In May 1970, 53.1% (in Germany it was only 9.6%) of all 5,263 people employed in Schmallenberg in the field of industry and craft were employed in the textile / leather industry. In the 1970s, the situation for the textile industry deteriorated throughout Germany. The Schmallenberg textile industry was not spared.
At the beginning of the 21st century there are still several companies in the textile industry in Schmallenberg. Of the companies founded in the 19th century, only the Veltins Wiethoff and Falke companies still exist in Schmallenberg at the turn of the millennium (today: the Falke Group with 3,086 employees worldwide / 2010). This made the Falke Group the largest textile company in North Rhine-Westphalia based on the number of employees. In terms of sales, Falke (1997) was in second place with 375 million DM.
literature
- Horst Becker: Contributions to the development of the Schmallenberg textile industry. In: Contributions to the history of the city of Schmallenberg 1244-1969. Schmallenberg, 1969. pp. 117-130.
- Horst Becker, The commercial economy of Schmallenberg in the upheaval of the 19th century, Schmallenberger Heimatblätter, May 1979
- Schützengesellschaft Schmallenberg, Schmallenberger Heimatblätter, 1966-2004
- Josef Hammeke: The textile industry in the Sauerland. Diss. Cologne, 1923.
- Claudia Nölting: About people, meshes and machines. A story rich in pictures of the Sauerland stockings. Schmallenberg, 1995.
- Paul Wiethoff, foot rags-leather socks-Schmallenberger socks, Schmallenberger Heimatblätter, 1965