Franz Baur's sons
The company Franz Baur's Sons was a Tyrolean manufacturer of loden and sheep wool products based in Innsbruck and Mühlau . The company was an Austro-Hungarian court and army supplier.
history
The beginning of the Tyrolean loden industry was small until it developed into an important branch of the economy at the end of the 20th century. For a time, this industry had even influenced the production of Austrian sheep's wool in a new direction. The waterproof loden was originally only used as clothing for a rural population in the Alps that was exposed to all adverse weather conditions . Over time, they also became a garment for the townspeople and as a result the loden production , which was only operated as a domestic trade , grew into an industry that became known beyond the borders, favored by the growing tourism traffic .
The history of the company Franz Baur's Sons has grown closely with that of the Tyrolean loden industry. In 1814, Franz Baur founded his loden production, which was only operated on a domestic basis, which later became an industrial branch and laid the foundation for the Tyrolean loden industry. Initially, only a hand chair was used to produce those types of loden that were used as coats for hunters and shepherds because of their waterproof properties . The whole business was set up in a very simple way, based on the rural production method.
It was not until 1824 that Franz Baur acquired the first spinning machines from Wasserburg in Bavaria, consisting of a card made of wood and a spinning machine of the same type as well as a cutting machine . Several spinning machines and cards were then made from these models, all of which were operated by hand.
The business gradually expanded. But it was not until 1840 that the factory building on the Sill Canal was built and operated with water power. Around 1845 came the first mechanical looms, which were supplied by the Richard Hartmann company , which later became the " Saxon machine factory " from Chemnitz .
At that time mainly coarse loden, tuffel , calmuk , plaid budl and woolen blankets , as well as the so-called Erlinger weather coat fabrics for shepherds and hunters , which were partly exchanged for the merchants and the greater part directly to consumers, were produced.
In 1848 the company received its first military deliveries , namely a clothing cloth to Venice , as well as team and horse blankets to Graz .
In 1850 the Graslmühl property in Mühlau was acquired and a new, second factory was built there. In the same year the company was taken over by the founder's four sons, Jakob, Ferdinand, Franz and Anton Baur. The founder of the company Franz Baur sen. died in 1862. When the Prussian-German War broke out in 1866 , the company again supplied military cloth . In recognition of their prompt and excellent execution of the order, Franz and Ferdinand Baur were awarded the gold cross of merit with crown . Due to the constant expansion of the company, the old factory rooms were no longer enough. In 1868 the so-called Hofmühle, located in Innsbruck on Sillgasse and operated with water power , was purchased and a new factory with a residential building and turbine systems was built in its place .
In 1873 the eldest son Jakob Baur took over the business, but he died that same year. The whole establishment now went to his sons, Franz and Johann Baur. In 1877 the title of imperial and royal purveyor to the court was awarded. In 1878 a new steam dyeing plant for wool, piece and tub dyeing was built.
In 1889 the entire spinning mill was relocated to Mühlau, while the dye works and the incidental manufacturing branches were centralized in Innsbruck, and a small electrical system was built to illuminate the Mühlau factory. In 1890/91, water power was acquired again in Mühlau, and a new high-pressure turbine system with a longer iron pipeline one meter in diameter and two 100 hp turbines were built. Furthermore, the mill that was bought at the same time was converted into a workers' house for 23 lots.
In 1893 Franz Baur was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order for his outstanding services in bringing about the I. Tyrolean State Exhibition . In January of the same year the company in Vienna set up its own defeat at Drachengasse 2 on Fleischmarkt in the 1st district .
In 1894, the company built its own power station for light and electrical power transmission, three-phase current, Oerlikon system , in Mühlau 2000 light bulbs, primarily for lighting its own factories and houses in Innsbruck and Mühlau and for the electrical operation of the weaving mill about three kilometers away. In addition, the system provided electricity to hotels, public buildings and private individuals.
In 1882 the company produced and marketed the first ladies' loden, which soon gained a worldwide reputation for its quality both for house and everyday clothing, as well as for costumes and travel suits, which could no longer be met with production. Inferior products, which were sold in large quantities as real Tyrolean loden, severely damaged the reputation of real Tyrolean loden products.
The factory employed 160 to 170 people in 1898, and the relationship between employer and employee is said to have been good. Some have spent their entire working life in the company, such as Anna Daum, who had worked for Baur for 62 years in 1898, as well as the weaver Josef Kühnel, who was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the Kaiser on March 27, 1888 for his uninterrupted 50 years of work . Josef Kühnel, Anna Daum and Hans Orgler, who had worked for 40 years around 1898, were honored with diplomas by the authorities and gifts by the company. Likewise, in February 1895, four workers celebrating their 25th anniversary at the same time received recognitions and gifts.
Since 1891 the company had been a member of the military cloth delivery company Offermann & Consorten, and as such it delivered cloth cloths for the standing army, as well as winter puke , summer blankets and cavalry horse blankets to the clothing depot in Graz .
The company won awards at exhibitions in Vienna in 1845 and at the World Exhibition in 1873 , in Innsbruck in 1882, in Budweis in 1884 (gold medal), in 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (two medals and diplomas) and in 1893 in Innsbruck (honorary diploma from the Ministry of Commerce). In 1879 the company received the Austro-Hungarian patent for porous waterproof woolen fabrics.
Products
The company became known for its invented production of natural waterproof porous Erlinger and weather jacket fabrics. These were initially only made in white and natural brown and were used by shepherds and high mountain hunters. Because of its waterproofness, low weight and the low price, it was soon also worn by tourists and hunters. The company also supplied large quantities of weather jacket fabrics in blue-gray for infantry and brown for cavalry officers of the Austro-Hungarian Army . These Erlinger weather coat fabrics were available in all possible colors and shades and were also made from camel hair .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Franz Baur's sons . In: The large-scale industry of Austria. Festive offer for the glorious fifty-year jubilee of His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef I's reign, presented by the Austrian industrialists in 1898 . tape 4 . Vienna 1898, p. 96-98 .