History of the cloth industry in Aachen

Stockheider Mühle, former fulling mill (1788) and dye works (1891), today the seat of the Aachen cloth works

The history of the cloth industry in Aachen extends over several centuries and has experienced numerous ups and downs from the first documented mention in the 12th century to the closure of the last cloth factory in 2003. It shows parallels and links with textile history in the not far away cloth centers in Eupen and Verviers in neighboring Belgium, Vaals in the Netherlands, as well as Monschau and Euskirchen on the German side and has therefore been part of the cross-border initiative Wollroute and in the cultural and Knowledge location Tuchwerk Aachen documented recorded. Above all, the old mills from the early modern period still preserved in Aachen and the partly monumental factory buildings from the industrial age are testimony to the heyday of the local cloth industry, which was an important economic factor alongside the needle industry. This tradition is now continued through the cooperation of several institutes of the RWTH Aachen with the cloth factory Aachen in the scientific research of the materials for the textile industry, for example through the " DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials e. V. ”(previously:“ German Wool Research Institute ”(DWI)), the“ Institute for Textile Technology ”(ITA) and the“ German Research Institute for Floor Systems e. V. ”(previously:“ German Carpet Research Institute ”).

From the beginning to the time of Napoleon

Favored by the many larger and smaller brooks of Aachen with their mostly lime-poor, soft water, the Aachen cloth handicraft was already one of the most important economic sectors of the city in the Middle Ages . Mills were built or taken over at almost all of these streams and set up as cloth factories and dye works . During the heyday of the cloth industry, around 250 cloth factories, spinning mills and dye works used the water power of the Aachen brooks, as it was ideally suited for washing, degreasing and bleaching wool and cloths. Mühl ditches and Mühl ponds regulated the water supply. With thermal water, the water wheels were kept ice-free in winter and the companies were able to produce throughout the year.

The Aachen cloth makers were mentioned for the first time in the chronicles of the abbots of St. Trond in 1136 , and 30 years later they were referred to as “traveling salesmen”. This was followed by an entry in the Viennese toll regulations around 1200 and in 1241 a documentary certificate of the exemption from customs duties with Antwerp as well as further mentions in the city books of Riga and Novgorod and in 1369 a certificate of privileged trade with Hungary. Until the end of the 14th century, this was the first high phase of the Aachen cloth trade.

Around this time the cloth makers and weavers formed in the so-called Wollenambacht and took part in an uprising in 1368 for more say in the city council, which was bloodily suppressed. It was only with the introduction of the First Aachen Gaffelbrief from 1450 that the cloth merchants in particular were given access to the foreman office and the foreman court of the city and thus influence on the entire Ambacht.

After the Reformation had gradually taken hold in the Free Imperial City of Aachen from 1530 onwards, in the following years mainly Protestant ( Calvinist ) cloth making families from Flanders , the Artois and the Duchy of Limburg settled in the city, which after the dissolution of the Burgundian Netherlands fled to Aachen from the strictly Catholic government of the now Spanish Netherlands . This led to conflict with the long-established families and the Catholic majority city council and there was the famous Aachener religious riots that in 1598 in a first and in 1614 imposed in a final by the emperor imperial ban contravenes fundamental Protestant citizens, including many cloth artisans and traders, culminating.

At the same time, the rigid guild rights, which prescribed the number of looms, personnel and products to the individual companies, caused massive restrictions for the Aachen cloth manufacturers, which made them no longer internationally competitive. Most of the company owners therefore tried to circumvent guild rights and had their goods manufactured in the so-called publishing system, in which the goods were produced in independent homework, while distribution was regulated centrally. Some of them such as Johann von Wespien , Christian Friedrich Claus or Franz Carl Nellessen achieved great success with this system. The existing company headquarters were mostly housed in waterwheel-driven spinning mills such as the Heißenstein and Drieschmühle, the White Mill, the upper and lower paper mills, as well as the Amia, Heppions, Dennewarts, Pletsch or Kelmis mills.

Nevertheless, many Aachen entrepreneurs decided to relocate their businesses to more liberal cities, such as the neighboring town of Burtscheid at the time or the Dutch border town of Vaals, due to the economic disadvantages and partly also because of their religious affiliation. The best- known representatives of these "emigrants" were Johann Arnold von Clermont , who had a cloth empire and enormous wealth in Vaals and was called the "cloth baron" there, or the Pastor family , who ran several flourishing textile companies in Burtscheid and in the adjacent Frankenberg district and founded needle factories. In addition, this family benefited from close family and business connections with the Cockerill family.

Wasp house; Town house from 1735 by Johann Joseph Couven with a factory in the aft construction

Although there had also been a cloth makers' guild in Burtscheid since the 14th century , the local cloth handicraft flourished just as successfully as in Aachen , especially from the 18th century onwards, mainly due to the local Erckens family and the entrepreneurs who moved there. It consisted of cloth, deerskin and cashmere factories, as well as carded and worsted spinning mills, mechanical weaving mills, dyeing works and a felt cloth factory. With the incorporation of Burtscheid to Aachen in 1897, all of the companies affected finally belonged to the regional economic center.

While there was massive bloodletting in the textile industry in Aachen for religious and labor law reasons in the 17th and 18th centuries, the “competition” in the more liberal neighboring cities was revived. The baroque factory owners' villas from that time, such as the Grand Ry , Rehrmann-Fey and Mennicken houses in Eupen or the Clermont house and the Vaalsbroek and Blumenthal castles in Vaals or the Red House in Monschau, are evidence of the economic success of the cloth manufacturers in question, although only the former in Aachen Wespienhaus of the cloth manufacturer Johann von Wespien could meet this requirement.

Development from the Napoleonic to the Weimar period

After Napoléon Bonaparte came to power as a result of the coalition wars in 1795 , the Aachen cloth handicraft experienced a new economic boom, mainly due to the abolition of the guild constitution and the freedom of trade acquired with it. The import of merino wool from Spain, with which fine cloth of the highest standard could be produced, as well as the continental barrier imposed by Napoléon and the associated elimination of British competition had a positive effect . The decisive breakthrough finally came through the newly developed mechanical spinning, shearing, roughening and weaving from the workshop of William Cockerill and his sons James and John , which were prepared for the above continental blockade in Verviers and Liege.

Kelleter cloth factory with aft construction at Wylre's house

Favored by these circumstances, at the turn of the century the so-called “eighth buildings” were built on the garden plots of several cloth merchants, for example at Wylre'schen Haus , in which the manual workers were spatially combined. In addition, several entrepreneurs acquired the secularized monasteries from the French administration on favorable terms, including Ignatz van Houtem the monastery of white women, Franz Aegidius Joseph August Heusch the Kreuzherrenkloster and Jakob Friedrich Kolb the imperial abbey Kornelimünster and had these converted into cloth factories. Pretty soon now, the number of major companies increased significantly without the numerous family "Contractors" in cloth crafts: from about nine textile factories in 1800 to 16 cloth and Casimir factories in 1804 and at 41 factories in 1807 and finally to 93 cloth and Casimir factories in 1812 with a total of 1,358 chairs. In that year 98 master clothiers, 1,378 weavers, 1,672 spinners, 635 potters, 53 shearers, 645 shearers, 18 master dyers and 84 dye works were employed.

The end of French rule in 1815 and the assumption of government by Prussia once again brought about sensitive changes for the cloth industry: on the one hand, because the new border with France broke off the market to the western countries and, on the other hand, because the continental barrier was no longer available the competition with the strengthened English competition was revived, mainly due to the technical advances in mechanization there. One of these technical innovations was, for example, the introduction of a modern steam engine based on the English model, adapted to the requirements of the cloth industry. On the one hand this led to the independence of the cloth factories from the water flow of the brooks and on the other hand the transport system could be made more effective by the emerging steam-driven train traffic and thus the trade could be more successful. The necessary modernization and redevelopment of the working machines for the cloth mills on steam power took place in the Cockerills machine works in Liège.

As early as 1817, the Edmund Kelleter cloth factory was the first to afford a steam engine, and numerous other factories followed in the next few years. The rapid industrialization of Aachen's cloth factories, which replaced the publishing system that had existed for decades, was due to the favorable geographical location on the border, the proximity to raw materials, the early establishment of the Aachen Chamber of Commerce and the commitment of large merchants such as David Hansemann as well as the Prussian industrial policy after 1814/15 at. After the competitive pressure had intensified due to the liberal customs laws of 1818 , economic development stalled in the 1820s, which particularly affected industry in western Prussia. This forced the factory owners to cut production costs, lay off workers and invest more in machinery. This led to the Aachen riot of August 30, 1830 , during which the workers of the " C. Nellessen Cloth Factory " moved to James Cockerill's city palace on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz No. 7 and demolished a large part of his home furnishings. Only with the help of the police could the riot bloodily be put down and production started up again.

Tuchwerk Neuwerk, formerly pastor; Multi-storey buildings with a stair tower and shed roof halls

The modernization could not be stopped and the emerging industrial age showed first signs in Aachen, especially through improved working conditions and new markets overseas. The city experienced a new heyday in its textile history, which was visible in the architectural style of the new factories with their slim, elongated, rectangular storey buildings, which have been emphasized by stair towers since around 1850 and supplemented by the first shed roof for " Ritz & Vogel AG " from 1874 were. By the 1850s at the latest, the “full cloth factory” had established itself in Aachen, in which most of the production areas for cloth manufacture were combined in one factory. Another characteristic feature was the coexistence of large companies with in some cases well over 1000 employees and many small companies of only small size as well as mills in rural areas on the outskirts.

The downside of this time was that more and more inexpensive personnel was required for the various work processes, which led to an increased employment of children, young people, women and unskilled workers. In some cases, child labor in the cloth mills was more than 50% of the workforce and these workers were paid well below the wage for workers. The consequences were serious illnesses and an above-average death rate among the workforce. In addition, there was no social security, which in the event of illness could lead to dismissals and social decline of the families. One of the reactions to this was the increasing number of orders being founded in Aachen at this time, including the sisters of the poor child Jesus or the poor sisters of St. Francis , who had made it their mission to help needy children, young people and impoverished families in particular as well as to the sick and infirm. The founders of the order, such as Clara Fey or Franziska Schervier, often came from local industrial families themselves and therefore knew both sides of society.

It was not until the late 1870s that under Otto von Bismarck , the newly introduced social laws gradually improved working conditions.

Building of the former textile engineering school, today the design department of the FH Aachen

In addition, Bismarck's moderate protective tariff policy of 1880 paid off at that time, ensuring that foreign cloths did not flood the market and thus domestic productions were supported. In order to guarantee the training and quality of the employees in the cloth industry during this period of high employment, the "Webschulverein für derregionen Aachen" was founded on December 21, 1882 and the "Higher Prussian Textile School" was founded on October 1, 1883, from 1902 the "Textile Engineering School Aachen" was. On June 1, 1887, the first of its kind in Germany was the establishment of the “Conditioning Institute for Yarns, Wool and Textile Fibers”, which later became the goods inspection office. Ultimately, the local manufacturers themselves joined forces to form the “Cloth Manufacturers Association Aachen”, founded in 1889, in order to better implement common economic interests. On her initiative, the “Association of German Cloth and Wool Goods Manufacturers”, based in Berlin, was founded three years later.

In this phase of the founding period there was a concentration on the manufacture of mass products and, for Aachen, there was a specialization in the manufacture of carded yarn cloths . From the 1870s onwards, interest shifted to worsted yarn , which, however, first had to be imported from Alsace. Despite the increased demand, the Aachen manufacturers failed to take over the production of worsted yarn themselves and were therefore forced to continue to import this from specialist companies, from 1906 mainly from the newly founded Kammgarnwerke AG factory in Eupen, where favorable production conditions were offered. In addition to the Eupen cloth manufacturer Wilhelm Peters, the Aachen manufacturers Carl Delius and Josef Königsberger as well as the companies GH & J. Croon and Dechamps & Drouven participated as shareholders in this new establishment .

The production of carded yarn continued to run at a high level and due to the incorporation of Burtschein into Aachen in 1897 there were 151 companies with around 13,600 employees in the Aachen / Burtscheid Chamber of Commerce district, which defied a brief export slump around the turn of the century to 164 companies with around 13,600 employees until the First World War 15,400 employees could be increased.

Rising and falling in the 20th century

formerly worsted cloth factory Peters

The gradual decline of the Aachen cloth industry began during the First World War. On the one hand, because many workers were called up for military service, some no longer came back or only returned as disabled and could not be replaced so quickly. On the other hand, technical progress stagnated due to the effects of sanctions after the lost war, the separatism uprising in Aachen in 1924 on the occasion of the establishment of the Rhenish Republic and finally due to the Great Depression in 1929. In addition, Aachen became as a result of the Versailles Treaty through the incorporation of the former Prussian district of Eupen into the The country Belgium has been sealed off by the new national borders and the new tariff levies from important cooperation partners such as the Eupener worsted yarn factories, so that the Aachen cloth factories had to look out for new worsted yarn suppliers. Among other things, the Eupen cloth factory "Wilhelm Peters & Co." took advantage of this and in 1919 set up a branch factory in Aachen's Ottostraße for its German customers. All this led to the fact that since the war years in the time of the Weimar Republic the number of entrepreneurs has decreased drastically due to bankruptcies or mergers and by 1930 there were only seven large companies with more than 300 employees and, together with the small companies, only around 8500 employees in Aachen Textile companies were recorded, which were even reduced to around 6,000 by 1932.

At the beginning of the Nazi era , there was a slight revival of the local textile industry for the Aachen cloth industry due to an initially general economic boom and increased planned economy, as well as large orders for military cloths made from carded yarn. A total of 53 Aachen companies profited from the Wehrmacht cloth business and around 9,000 people were employed in Aachen again by the outbreak of war. As representatives of the cloth industry's interests, some cloth manufacturers joined forces on December 18, 1933 to form the "Aachener Streichgarnwebergemeinschaft" (Astrege), which supported its members in the procurement of uniform and official cloth orders, provided them with expert advice on production issues and provided them with wool of all kinds on commission bought cheaply and resold to its members.

This slight economic upturn, however, was made more difficult again by the so-called Aryanization measures that began to emerge in Jewish-run businesses from 1935 onwards . Around 30% of the larger or smaller companies in the textile industry were in the hands of Jewish families at that time, sometimes for several generations. These included 16 cloth factories, including the largest of them the Josef Königsberger cloth factory with more than 500 employees. These companies and their products were initially of interest to the German economy, but in the context of increasing hostility towards Jews, the company owners were forced to notarise the Aryanization and thus the transfer of their companies to German buyers - mostly local competitors - from 1938 at the latest. In return they received - if at all - such a small amount of the real market value of their respective company that they could hardly pay the Jewish tax and the Reich flight tax , a requirement for their emigration from Germany. Only a few former Jewish company owners later had the courage to return to Aachen after the Second World War and, as in the case of the Königsberger family, to successfully demand a return transfer or compensation payments.

The war itself brought massive declines in production, especially in its final year, due to the evacuation of the population and the massive destruction of the factory buildings by the Allied bombing. These economic problems intensified after the war due to the lack of raw materials and the currency reform of 1948 . Nevertheless, some entrepreneurs had their factories rebuilt and equipped with new, contemporary machines, while others tried to maintain a better competitive position in the market through mergers. Another problem finally arose in 1957 when the newly founded European Economic Community opened the borders to imports from all over Europe.

In addition, the Aachen cloth industry had not gone with the fashion of the time, and new products such as jeans from America or cheap goods from low-wage countries, especially from Asia flooded the German market. This ultimately led to a domino effect of the closure of all Aachen factories, most recently in 2003 of the company “ Becker &führung ” in Aachen-Brand . From the 1970s onwards, the factory buildings that became vacant were largely used for other purposes and placed under monument protection as industrial monuments .

The textile engineering school was also closed and in 1971 transferred to the Aachen University of Applied Sciences , which housed the design department in the old building complex on Boxgraben . Instead, scientific research on and with textiles established itself at RWTH Aachen University from the 1950s and now continues Aachen's textile history on a scientific level.

Important former cloth factories (selection)

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

Name / location	description	image
Cloth factory C. Nellessen Mörgensstraße 24 (formerly: Mörgensgasse) ( location )	Established in 1737 by Franz Nellessen inheritance to son Johann Matthias, then to grandson Franz Carl Nellessen ; Company name under "Carl Nellessen, JM Sohn"; Mentioned in 1791 as “merchant trading in Spanish shawls”; between 1822 and 1830 fundamentally expanded. 1830 participation of the workers in the Aachen weavers uprising; 1860 further basic extensions and additions. After the First World War, auctioned off to Paul Dechamps under the name “Dechamps & Merzenich”. After World War II, it was closed and bought by RWTH Aachen University; Restoration by René von Schöfer ; today branch of the Theater Aachen (Mörgens); Monument protection	more pictures
Spinning mill Komericher Mühle Komericher Weg 42/44 in the district of Brand ( Lage )	1770 set up as a spinning and fulling mill in a former copper mill on the Inde ; several changes of ownership; 1860 conversion to a carded yarn spinning mill; 1865 branch of “Dechamps & Drouven”; 1885 new boiler system and steam engine. 1893 Takeover by Peter Jakob Kutsch and change of name to "PJ Kutsch Streichgarn-Spinnerei". Badly damaged by arson in 1901, then rebuilt and re-equipped with machines. 1960 Operation by the Kutsch sons ceased and the entire complex sold to the community of Brand. Since then office and agricultural building, monument protection	more pictures
Cloth factory van Houtem / Lochner Karlsgraben 55 - Lochernstrasse 4–20 - Mauerstrasse 5 ( location )	1773 new building by Heinrich van Houtem at Johannisbach ; 1798 inheritance to son Iganz van Houtem; 1804 visit by Napoléon; 1810 approx. 290 employees; 1830 Purchase of a 20 HP steam engine to operate the fulling mills and dishwashers as well as the hoisting and shearing machines. 1857 takeover by Johann Friedrich Lochner ; Acquisition of the Junkersmühle ; 1873 inheritance to Emil Lochner , Fritz Lochner and Rudolf Lochner ; New factory building according to plans by Otto Intze as well as extensive extensions, construction of new streets and green spaces. 1907 liquidation; 1928 Takeover of the building by RWTH Aachen University; Monument protection of the baroque "Lochner Gate" and the coach house.	more pictures
Cloth factory Pastor Augustastraße 80 ( location )	1800 by Caspar Braaf initially set up as a spinning mill in Augustastraße am Beverbach ; 1828 leased to “Schamborn & Bischof”; 1856 bought by Gottfried Pastor ; extensive expansions and installation of a steam engine; 1863 further additions and stair tower as well as acquisition of further steam engines. 1909 sale of the Pastor heirs to "Katz & Langstadt"; Volltuchfabrik (see there)	more pictures
Cloth factory Johann Erckens & Sons Dammstrasse ( location )	1805 Founding of a cloth factory by the brothers Friedrich and Johann Melchior Erckens in Burtscheider Hauptstrasse; 1857 Takeover by Oskar Erckens and renamed "Johann Erckens & Söhne", from 1907 GmbH; 1866 New building in Bendstrasse, office and warehouse building in Malmedyer Strasse. 1928 Merger with the "Tuchfabrik C. Delius" and six other companies to form "Toga, Vereinigte Weberei Actien-Gesellschaft" based in Aachen. 1932 Dissolution and closure of the operations. Only parts preserved, today the seat of an RWTH institute.	more pictures
Cloth factory JH Kesselkaul Krakaustraße 25-27 ( location )	1815 Foundation by Johann Heinrich Kesselkaul and Joseph van Gülpen as "Van Gülpen & Kesselkaul" in Königstrasse; 1825 move to Adalbertstrasse; Installation of steam-powered spinning, shearing and space machines; Moving to the Cologne Gate . 1838 Van Gülpen leaves; In 1850 Aachen's third largest cloth entrepreneur. 1855 move to Krakaustraße on the Pau; until 1914 winning several business awards. Before the world wars, specialization in military cloth. Reconstruction after World War II, closed in 1977. Monument protection of the main building with gate passage.	more pictures
Startz spinning mill Löhergraben 22 ( location )	Established in 1821 by Gotthard Startz at Löhergraben on the banks of the Pau; Acquisition of a steam engine for three fulling and two rinsing bowls as well as four spinning machine sets and shearing machines. Multiple changes of ownership, including leasing to the Delius cloth factory from 1851 to 1907. 1975 takeover by the city of Aachen; Establishment as a cultural center baroque factory . Monument protection for building and chimney.	more pictures
Tuchfabrik JA Hergett Heinzenstrasse 16 ( location )	Established in 1830 at the Templergraben, with a focus on Buckskin ; 1861 relocated to Heinzenstrasse; Expanded several times until 1867. Complaints about smoke nuisance. 1895 new power plant with two-flame tube boiler and new chimney. In operation until 1958; Monument protection.	more pictures
Cloth factory C. Delius Deliusstrasse 6–30 ( location )	1851 Establishment of a weaving mill in Jakobstrasse and a fulling mill with roughing in the former Startz spinning mill by Carl Delius, senior; Takeover by the sons Carl, Gustav and Robert; 1906 move to Deliusstrasse. Around 1,200 employees and 100 employees in their prime. 1928 Merger with “ Johann Erckens & Söhne ” and six other companies to form “TOGA, Vereinigte Weberei Actien-Gesellschaft” based in Aachen. 1932 Dissolution and closure of the operations. 1947 Takeover by Leonhard Monheim AG , 1980 closure. Renovation and conversion of the main building into apartments; Monument protection.	more pictures
Cloth factory GH & J. Croon Annastraße 54–58 ( location )	1862 founded by Heinrich Gustav and Julius Croon at Karlsgraben; 1870 move to Annastraße in the building of the former cloth factory Waldthausen; 1885 Takeover of the area of ​​the neighboring and burned down "Rheinische Tuchfabrik" at Löhergraben No. 2 on the Pau, which in turn was incorporated into the "Haarener Tuchfabrik" as a company in 1893. Specialization in worsted fabrics. Badly destroyed in World War II; Reconstruction. 1959 Relocation to Aachen-Brand, dye works in the Soers . 1968 Merger with "Nickel & Müller" and "Dechamps & Drouven" by Waldemar Croon to "Dechamps Textil AG". 2002 shutdown.
Cloth factory J. Cüpper & Sohn Brabantstrasse 73 ( location )	1871 Foundation of the Cüpper cloth factory in Burtscheid, 1889 move to the factory of the former “Comp & Aldenhoven” cloth factory, which has existed since the mid-1850s, to the white mill on the banks of the Beverbach in Brabantstraße in the Frankenberg district; further expansion and name change to "J. Cüpper & Sohn ”, 1900 establishment of a spinning mill, 1902 modernization of the machine park. 1932 Takeover by the company "Textilwerk Aachen GmbH". 1942 "Cloth factory F. & M. Meyer" moves into the factory, 1949 change of name to "Kammgarnfabrik Meyer & Co." 1959 shut down and then small businesses from the textile industry and offices move in. Early 2000 demolition of the dilapidated buildings.
Cloth factory Aachen formerly Süskind & Sternau AG Charlottenstrasse 14 ( location )	1873 New company complex on Beverbach in the Frankenberg district, built according to plans by Otto Intze; The cloth factory received the first shed roof hall in Aachen. Furnished by Alfred Ritz and Conrad Vogel, taken over by Albert Süskind and Sigmund Sternau in 1887; 1897 Change of name and transformation to "Tuchfabrik Aachen AG formerly Süskind und Sternau". Aachen's largest company in the sector, at times more than 1,200 employees. Partially destroyed in World War II; 1952 bankruptcy; Restoration as far as possible and other uses. Monument protection for "Intzeturm".	more pictures
Aachen stock spinning mill Viktoriastraße 72 ( location )	1881 Emil Hilden and Theodor Reuven set up a spinning mill in Beeckstrasse; 1889 relocation to Viktoriastraße in the Frankenberg quarter; Takeover of the dye works and wool laundry "Philipps & Mathee" on the Hammmühle in Stolberg as well as an artificial silk factory; 1900 Specialization in tricot fabric. Building in Aachen badly destroyed in World War II; Operation in Aachen closed, in Stolberg decades later: Monument protection only for the preserved front building.	more pictures
Haarener Tuchfabrik Hauptstrasse 24 (today Alt-Haarener Strasse) ( location )	Founded in 1881 by Jacob Lippmann in the Aachen district of Haaren , which has been incorporated since 1972 . Lippmann had been on the board of the "Rheinische Tuchfabrik" since 1879, which later became part of the Haarener Tuchfabrik in 1893 after the fire of 1885. In 1928 his son Otto sold the company, now known as “Haarener Tuchfabrik GmbH”, to Josef Rummeny, who from then on renamed the company as “Jos. Rummeny OHG ”. In June 1938, Rummeny also took over the cloth factory "Mayerfeld & Herz KG" in Aachener Roermonder Strasse through aryanization measures, which he had closed at the beginning of the Second World War. At the turn of the year 1967/1968, the Haarener Tuchfabrik was taken over by the "Tuchfabrik Königsberger" in Dennewartstrasse and production in the old Haarener factory was stopped as early as 1970. Shortly before the turn of the millennium, the ailing factory buildings were torn down.

Aryanized cloth factories (selection)

Name / location	description	image
Marx & Auerbach Templergraben - Eilfschornsteinstraße ( location )	1839 Establishment of a new cloth factory by Nathan Marx and Mayer Lippmann in the former copper yard of Johann Heinrich Schervier at the Templergraben; Company name under "Marx & Lippmann"; Nathan Marx's sons and sons-in-law join the management team; The company's name was initially changed to “Marx & Sons”, then to “Marx & Auerbach”, and between 1861 and 1864 fundamental expansion by Friedrich Joseph Ark . 1938 forced sale of the factory by Fritz Marx, Jew and fourth generation manager, to Robert Grünzig and his son-in-law Ludwig Charlier; Change of name to "Grünzig & Charlier". 1948 takeover by Erna Grünzig; 1950s relocation to Indeweg in Brand; Decommissioned in 1963. Monument protection for the preserved corner block Templergraben / Eilfschornsteinstraße and takeover by RWTH Aachen.	more pictures
Cloth factory Königsberger Jülicher Straße 118 - Dennewartstraße ( location )	Founded in 1885 by Paul Königsberger in Bachstrasse in Burtscheid; 1888 Relocation to the former Dennewartsmühle an der Wurm in the area of Europaplatz in Aachen-Nord . Compulsory handover by Paul Königsberger, third generation manager, to the technical manager Fritz Meißner; Change of name to "Meißner & Co.". 1950 return of the Königsberger heirs and 1951 return of the company. Company name as "Josef Königsberger GmbH"; 1968 Takeover of both the “Cloth Factory Josef Rummeny” from Haaren, which was closed around 1970, and the “ Leopold Schoeller & Söhne Dürener Feintuchfabrik ”, which was shut down in the early 1980s. 1999 Closure and demolition of the Königsberger cloth factory on Dennewartstrasse; at the same time re-establishment in Eilendorf-Nirm ; 2003 final closure.
Katz & Langstadt Augustastraße 80 ( location )	1909 Julius Katz and Julius Langstadt take over the Pastor cloth factory; 1912 construction of a large shed roof hall for mechanical weaving; now full cloth factory. Under Jewish management by Ernst Jacobsberg, the company's name was changed to “Tuchfabrik Neuwerk GmbH”. 1938 forced handover to son-in-law. Badly destroyed in WWII and then rebuilt; Takeover and company name as "Weigelt & Co."; 1960 final closure. Building restored and refurbished as well as converted into living space and placed under monument protection	more pictures

See also

• History of the cloth industry in Eupen

literature

• Josef Dahmen: The Aachen cloth industry. Your economic and social foundations. A theoretical investigation of the location factors for the economic practice of the Aachen cloth industry . Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna: White. 1930
• Clemens Bruckner: Aachen and its cloth industry , Mushakesche Verlagsanstalt, Horb am Neckar 1949 ( pdf )
• Hans-Karl Rouette: Aachen textile history (s) in the 19th and 20th centuries: Developments in the cloth industry and textile machine construction in the Aachen region , Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 1992

Web links

Commons : Former cloth factory in Aachen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jochen Buhren: Monuments of the textile industry in Aachen - (not) an inventory , report from November 17, 2019 on the website of the cloth works Aachen
• Walter Buschmann: Textile industry in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture
• Silke Fengler: "Aryanizations" in the Aachen textile industry (1933–1942)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Krempelwolf and box feeder , press information on futurelab-aachen.de
2. ↑ Achterbau is a term used by Laurenz Mefferdatis. It describes newly built factory buildings in connection with yard facilities. Dauber: Aachen villa architecture . 1985, p. 24.
3. ↑ Clemens Bruckner: Aachen and his cloth industry , Mushakesche Verlagsanstalt, Horb am Neckar 1949 p. 19.
4. ↑ Steam engine deliveries at gieseler.de
5. ^ Aachen uprising on August 30, 1830 on wannewitz.de .
6. ↑ Mastering the upheaval with technical textiles , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 28, 2015
7. ^ Higher Prussian Textile School on the pages of the wool route.
8. ↑ Clemens Bruckner: Aachen and its cloth industry , Mushakesche Verlagsanstalt, Horb am Neckar 1949, p. 40.
9. ↑ Aachen textile companies 1911 on google.com/maps.
10. ^ Portrait of the Peters cloth factory on the pages of the wool route.
11. ^ Aachen textile companies 1935 on Google Maps .
12. ↑ Silke Fengler: "Aryanizations" in the Aachen textile industry (1933–1942) , p. 152.
13. ↑ Joachim Zinsen: How the Jews in Aachen were robbed 80 years ago , in: Aachener Nachrichten of July 16, 2018.
14. ↑ Walter Buschmann: Cloth factory Nellessen in Rheinische Industriekultur .
15. ^ Walter Buschmann: Komerich spinning mill in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture .
16. ↑ Karina Angelova / Lorezo Morez: The cloth factory van Houtem in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture .
17. ↑ Walter Buschmann: Cloth factory pastor in Rhenish industrial culture .
18. ↑ Elke Datow: The cloth factory JH Kesselkaul and grandchildren in Rhenish industrial culture .
19. ^ Walter Buschmann: Startz spinning mill in Aachen in the industrial culture of the Rhineland .
20. ↑ Walter Buschmann: The Hergett cloth factory in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture .
21. ↑ Sandra Charlet: Delius cloth factory in Aachen .
22. ^ The cloth factory G. H: & J. Croon on the website of the cloth factory Aachen.
23. ↑ Jochen Buhren: Spinning and weaving at Schwedenpark on the website of the cloth works Aachen.
24. ^ Spalding: The cloth factory Aachen AG in Rheinische Industriekultur .
25. ↑ Katharina Dehn: The share spinning mill in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture .
26. ↑ The Haarener Tuchfabrik , in: Aachener Genealogie Info - Communications of the WGfF district group Aachen , No. 1/2018, pp. 4–8
27. ↑ Karina Angelova / Lorenz Morez: The cloth factory Marx & Auerbach in Aachen in Rhenish industrial culture .
28. ↑ Königstuche from Aachen - The Königsberger company based on Aachen genealogy of the West German Society for Family Studies e. V., edition 1/2018, pp. 8–12.