Linen weaver
Leineweber or Lein (en) weber is the historical occupational name for weavers of linen, a fabric made on handlooms in plain weave . Linen fabric consists entirely or to a considerable extent of linen yarn, a yarn spun from flax fibers . In rural areas, linen weaving was often carried out as a peasant sideline.
Social position
In the Middle Ages and into the early modern period , the line weaver was regarded as " dishonorable " and thus a dishonest profession . In the urban class societies of the Middle Ages, children from linen weaver families were therefore mostly excluded from admission to other guilds . It was not until the middle of the 16th century that the imperial laws of 1548 and 1577 gave them the opportunity to learn another craft.
Regional centers
One of several historical centers of linen weaving was the Ravensberger Land in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia . From the 17th century onwards, farmers there cultivated state-subsidized flax on their arable land instead of grain and processed it into linen or linen in the home industry . The linen trade led to a certain prosperity in the so-called “linen city” of Bielefeld . As in other regions, the East Westphalian linen trade got into a serious crisis around 1830 when the production of machine-woven fabrics began in Ireland, England and Belgium. With the Ravensberger spinning mill in Bielefeld, a company was established in the 1850s that developed into the largest flax spinning mill in Europe.
Today the Leineweberdenkmal is a landmark of the city of Bielefeld, the Leinewebermarkt takes place there every year, and the local railway line from Bielefeld to Altenbeken is called “Der Leineweber”.
- Leash weavers in historical sculptures
“The weaver” in Jost Ammann's “Ständebuch” , 1568
Leash weaver at the loom
painting by Vincent van Gogh , 1884
“The Great Elector receives the linen weavers”
painting by Ernst Hildebrand , around 1890
Linen weaver at the hand loom in Bielefeld , late 19th century
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literature
- Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander (Hrsg.): German Proverbs Lexicon. Volume 3, Leipzig 1873, Col. 29 online
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jost Schneider: Social history of reading: on the historical development and social differentiation of literary communication in Germany . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, p. 154, ISBN 3-11-017816-8 .
- ↑ German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of All Arts and Sciences . Volume 18, Varrentrapp and Wenner, Frankfurt am Main 1794, p. 277.