General Society of the English Cotton Mill in St. Gallen
| General Society of the English Cotton Mill in St. Gallen | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1801 |
| resolution | 1817 |
| Reason for dissolution | bankruptcy |
| Seat |
St. Gallen Switzerland
|
| Number of employees | to 120 |
| Branch | Textile industry |
The General Society of the English Cotton Mill in St. Gallen is considered the first stock company in Switzerland . It existed from 1801 to 1817.
history
The company was founded on the initiative of the Vaudois businessman Marc-Antoine Pellis on February 11, 1801, who wanted to have cotton spinning machines installed in St. Gallen . In 1801 Pellis introduced the first spinning machine in Switzerland, a mule-jenny by the British inventor Samuel Crompton . In order to purchase the expensive machines, 50 shares at 1650 guilders were issued: The “Kaufmänneische Corporation”, the city's most important trading company, bought ten of them. The huge spinning machines initially provided work for around 120 people. They were initially installed in the east wing of the monastery , which was empty due to the closure and confiscation of all monastic goods by the Helvetic Republic.
Society was not economically fortunate. The yarn produced could not be sold because the English import yarn was still cheaper. At first, attempts were made to avert bankruptcy by issuing more shares, but this only helped for a short time. As early as 1802, the company's production rooms in the monastery were also terminated, because after the French had withdrawn, the Princely Land again had a government and therefore re-use of the rooms. However, the notice of termination was only carried out in 1808, when the Catholic denomination part (legal successor to the prince abbey) wanted to set up a cantonal school in the monastery (→ St. Gallen Catholic Secondary School ).
After 1808, the entire spinning mill was leased by the city to a private person who continued to produce in the cloth house on Neugasse. However, production was still lossy, so that the company had to be finally liquidated in 1817. Only during the continental blockade imposed by Napoléon Bonaparte (1806–1813) was sales a little better because the import of cheap English yarn was no longer possible. Various competitors took advantage of the opportunity to steal market shares from the St. Gallische Spinnerei with cheaper products.
aftermath
Although society only existed for a relatively short time, it has left its mark on history. On the one hand, the machines often had to be repaired, which led to the establishment of their own workshops, which later began to produce such machines themselves. Hans Caspar Escher, for example, founded the company Escher, Wyss & Cie. after seeing the spinning machines in St. Gallen.
See also
literature
- Ernst Ehrenzeller: History of the City of St. Gallen . VGS-Verlagsgemeinschaft, St. Gallen 1988 ISBN 3-7291-1047-0