David & Heinrich Werdmüller
David & Heinrich Werdmüller are considered the founders of the Zurich silk industry and founded a silk industry in 1575. In their export-oriented textile company in what was then Zurich , they were the first to combine the processing of silk, wool and cotton.
prehistory
The silk industry emerged in Zurich at the end of the 13th century. Around 1237 raw silk was brought from Como to Zurich via Walenstadt . The way to Walenstadt led over the Septimerpass and the old Reichsstrasse to Chur. From Walenstadt, boatmen transported the goods on Lake Walen and Lake Zurich directly to Zurich, where they were unloaded near the Helmhaus Bridge and sold in a department store near Fraumünster .
The Zurich guild revolution of 1336 and the Old Zurich War (1440–1450) prevented an upswing in the textile industry. The heyday only began in the post-Reformation period with the immigration of Protestant refugees from Locarno in 1555. Since the Ticinese in the craft town of Zurich with its 6000 inhabitants were not allowed to work in their traditional professions for reasons of competition, they switched to trading in goods with Italy revived the Zurich textile industry.
history
The brothers David Werdmüller-Rahn (1548–1612) and Heinrich Werdmüller-Kitt (1554–1627) founded a society for the manufacture of woolen cloths in 1575 together with the Protestant Locarno refugee (Regufiant) and velvet weaver Johann Jakob Dunus-Hegner (1540–1603) in the publishing system . Dunus worked as a burat and crepe manufacturer in Zurich. The company was soon successful and was able to export to Germany, Italy, France and England.
In 1587 they hired Francesco Turrettini-Burlamacchi (1547–1628), religious refugee from Lucca , who gave them access to the industrial manufacture of foil silk . In addition to the foil yarn made from waste silk, Schappegarn was also produced. Turretini was a co-founder of the «Grande Boutique» in Geneva in 1593, which brought together the most important Italian silk manufacturers.
The rise of Zurich to a commercial city began with the protoindustrial manufacture of foil silk, the silk industry of which became known worldwide in the second half of the 19th century thanks to free trade policy, technical advances and well-developed traffic routes. Heinrich Werdmüller was company director and responsible for accounting. His accounting ledger "Conntto Corentte" (1598–1608) is considered to be the oldest preserved double bookkeeping in Zurich.
The Werdmüllers developed the silk industry into one of the most important economic sectors in the city of Zurich. In 1592 they had the "Alte Seidenhof" (Steinmühleplatz) built on the Sihl Canal and when it became too small, in 1606 they built the "Neue Seidenhof" next to it with eight silk courtyards in the area of today's Jelmoli department store on Sihlstrasse as Zurich's first factory district. In 1594 the silk mill on the Schipfe was bought and the Wollenhof was built, which David ran as his own business.
From 1896 to 1955 all of the silk farms were demolished. Today only the Florhof at Hirschengraben exists of the old department stores . After David's death, the silk manufacturing company was dissolved and the business assets were separated. Heinrich took over the Neue Seidenhof with the associated factory buildings.
At the end of their lives, the Werdmüllers were among the wealthiest citizens of the city of Zurich.
literature
- Ulrich Pfister: The Zurich Fabriques. Proto-industrial growth from the 16th to the 18th century . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 1992, ISBN 978-3-905278-97-2
- Stefan G. Schmid: David and Heinrich Werdmüller. Founder of the Zurich silk industry. In: Swiss pioneers in the economy and technology 73. Association for economic history studies, miles 2001, ISBN 3-909059-25-2
- Exhibition “400 Years of Silk in Zurich”, exhibition in the treasury of the Zurich Central Library from June 8 to October 27, 2018
Web links
- Martin Lassner: David Werdmüller. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Martin Lassner: Heinrich Werdmüller. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Katja Hürlimann: Werdmüller. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Family tree David and Heinrich with sons
- Limmattaler Zeitung from April 18, 2018: Once the most important branch of industry in Zurich: How a financial center emerged from silk weaving
Individual evidence
- ^ Hans Jenny: Hundred Years of Seidentrocknungsanstalt Zürich, 1846–1946. Orell Füssli AG, Zurich 1946.
- ↑ Sihlstrasse: 1, 3, 4 Grüner Seidenhof, 5, 7 Gelber Seidenhof, 8 Blauer Seidenhof, 10 Kleiner Seidenhof, 12 Hinterer Seidenhof, 16 Vorderer / Neuer Seidenhof
- ↑ NZZ from October 2, 2001: Silk in the Zwinglistadt
- ↑ [1] Living traditions : Zurich silk industry
- ↑ The Zurich Fabriques. Review by Peter Kriedte, Göttingen
- ↑ NZZ of June 14, 2018: The Central Library shows how Zurich hung by a thread
