History of the shoe industry in Pirmasens
The history of the shoe industry in Pirmasens describes the development of the city of Pirmasens on the western edge of the Palatinate Forest from a garrison town to the center of the German shoe industry , the decline of the shoe metropolis and the current situation of the shoe industry in Pirmasens. The starting point was after the death of Landgrave Ludwig IX. 1790 the dissolution of the garrison and the dismissal of the soldiers who began to manufacture simple shoes. From around 1800, initially smaller manufacturers were founded, and later the first shoe factories as well. Since the late 1960s , most of the more than 300 shoe companies disappeared, and about 30 shops survived by the beginning of the 21st century .
initial situation
- Main article: shoe
Man used since about 40,000 years - since the Middle Paleolithic - the footwear shoe . For around 27,000 years, these have also been used more frequently in parts of Europe . The first types were made from skins without a firm shoe sole . While simple sandals were still the most common shoes in antiquity , boots made of tanned leather - as the first closed shoe reserved for men - began to migrate to Europe from the Orient in the 4th century . The first shoes with heels appeared around the 12th century , probably invented by equestrian peoples to improve hold in the stirrups. These shoes were first made in Persia from esparto grass . Since the Middle Ages, there has been an increasing diversification in models for different occupations or population groups, such as the Bundschuh , Haferlschuh , Trippen or boots for soldiers or workers with additional mechanical or thermal protection. Up until the 18th century, all shoes were made by hand by shoemakers or cobblers in small businesses without mechanical help .
The soldiers in Pirmasens as shoemakers
The pay of a simple soldier at the time of Landgrave Ludwig IX. was just enough to cover basic needs. Ludwig allowed his grenadiers to learn a simple craft, many of them being trained as shoemakers. However, since leather was expensive, the soldier shoemakers could not make new leather shoes, but only repair their own boots and the shoes of the Pirmasens if they were damaged.
Structure and flowering
When after the death of Landgrave Ludwig IX. In 1790 the Pirmasens garrison was dissolved, 2400 grenadiers and their families living in Pirmasens were unemployed. Out of necessity, they made Schlabbe , simple shoes, from the remains of the uniforms . The families moved around selling the shoes they had made, while the men made new ones at home. Over time, the shoes made in Pirmasens gained a good reputation and a considerable shoe industry developed. Since leather and tools, and later machines, adhesives and paints were required to manufacture shoes, an appropriate infrastructure had to be built for these goods.
The increasing industrialization in the 19th century favored the development of large companies; From small family businesses, shoe factories such as Neuffer , Rheinberger and the still existing companies Carl Semler and Peter Kaiser emerged . Also in the immediate vicinity, such as B. in Waldfischbach or Hauenstein , large companies such as Mattil and Seibel developed .
In 1914 there were 240 shoe factories with 14,000 employees in the city of Pirmasens. When a large part of the city center was destroyed after two air raids after the Second World War, the factories were rebuilt and some were enlarged. In 1970, 22,000 people worked in the shoe industry.
Decline and today's situation
In the years after 1970, the production of many companies was relocated abroad, while the model development and administration remained in Pirmasens. Gradually, however, more and more factories had to close because production was initially no longer profitable in Germany and later in countries such as Spain and Portugal or in Eastern Europe due to the great distance.
Currently about 1200 people still work for shoe companies. The city's largest employer, the Kömmerling ( profine GmbH ) company founded in 1897 , was also created as a supplier to the shoe industry. One of the former shoe factories was converted into an industrial park in Neuffer am Park ; in another ( Bleiching ) part of the tax office has been housed for many years. At what was once Europe's largest shoe factory, Rheinberger, the conversion process into a service center and science center Dynamikum was completed in 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b LRP.DE: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Quietly catching up with the future (PDF) ), Lebendiges Rheinland-Pfalz, Heft III-IV, 2004, ISSN 0934-9294 , p. 4
- ^ John R. McCulloch, CFE Richter: Handbook for Merchants. 3rd edition, Cotta-Verlag, 1837, p. 356
- ↑ Who-to-whom: Peter Kaiser
- ↑ GIU Society for Innovation and Enterprise Development Corporation: Project sheet ( Memento of 19 July 2011 at the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development: Stadtumbau West ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 723 kB)