J. Caspar Troost textile factory

Part of the Tudor style factory

On February 18, 1791, Johann Caspar Troost founded a cotton mill in Mülheim . The resulting textile factory no longer exists and the buildings that still exist are empty, despite being listed as a historical monument, they are threatened with decay.

history

The Troost family on an oil painting from 1828 with the spinning mill in the background

In 1790 JC Troost applied for the right to build a spinning mill. After initial resistance from direct competitor Johann Gottfried Brügelmann from Ratingen and other mill operators in the Ruhr region, Maria Louise Albertina granted the concession to the Landgravine of Hessen-Darmstadt . By creating new jobs in the then economically difficult time, she wanted to prevent social unrest. Troost was obliged to show consideration for the other mills, for example the Broich grain and paper mill.

Troost first built the spinning mill in the Luisental, named after the landgrave . The fifteen spinning machines, built according to an invention by the Englishman Richard Arkwright , are among the most modern in the Rhineland. The water power required for the operation of the waterframe is brought in from the Ruhr by means of a sluice canal .

Despite years of disputes about water use and difficulties caused by the fluctuating water level in the Ruhr, the spinning mill is economically successful. The sons Johann Caspar jr. and Ferdinand expand the textile factory, in 1817 a weaving mill, and later a textile printing plant, are built. From 1825 the machines were modernized and the drive was replaced by steam engines.

Legendary but unproven is a saying of the sons to their father after their visit to England: "Dear old man, burn your machines and have English ones built" .

After the death of the company founder in 1830, the factory was initially continued by both sons, after Ferdinand's death by Johann Caspar jr. alone. After his death in 1849 the business was split up.

The weaving mill existed from 1856 to 1875 as the "Luisenthaler Actien-Gesellschaft für Druckerei, Weberei und Spinnerei" with around 250 looms and 650 employees and with further changes of ownership until 1894. Afterwards it was taken over by C. Roesch u. Co. bought up.

The spinning mill with around 250 employees also changed hands several times and later also came to Roesch and Co., whereby the part with wool and cotton spinning was discontinued due to a lack of demand.

Overall, the factory experienced an economic decline in the second half of the 19th century.

Workers

The spinning mill was operated with a few skilled workers and many children as support workers, in the beginning there were 40 to 50 girls between the ages of 10 and 13. The child labor was daily 10 to 12 hours, while they were exposed to extreme noise and dust.

In 1800 the factory had a total of around 150 to 200 employees, with the weaving mill there were around 300. The employees included Philipp Karl Friedrich Kaulbach, the father of the painter Wilhelm von Kaulbach , who found a job as an engraver in the factory in 1816.

From 1841 there was a separate factory school for the children working in the factory in accordance with the Prussian Child Protection Act of 1839. As this law became more and more stringent (the minimum age for employment and the number of compulsory school hours increased over the years), fewer and fewer or increasingly older ones Children drawn to work.

In 1846 the Troost'sche textile factory was the largest employer in Mülheim with over 1200 employees in its economic heyday.

Current condition

The Troost's existing company buildings (weaving mill, Tudor house, coach house) are empty and under monument protection. The mill building no longer exists, the former factory canal is still recognizable as a Thyssenteich.

The current owner, the August Thyssen Foundation and the responsible authorities (the LVR Office for Monument Preservation in the Rhineland as the lower, the district government as the upper and the ministry as the highest monument authority ) have been in dispute for several years as to whether and which subsequent use is economically feasible . The foundation has applied for demolition and is not maintaining the buildings. The city of Mülheim has issued an administrative order threatening a fine of 50,000 euros and an 18-month period to restore the monument in accordance with Section 27 of the Monument Protection Act . The August Thyssen Foundation has filed a lawsuit against this ruling.

literature

Eckhard Bolenz: The first Mülheimer Kommerzienrat was a textile entrepreneur: The Troost family and their companies , in: Horst A. Wessel (Ed.): Mülheim entrepreneurs: Pioneers of the economy. Business history in the city on the river since the end of the 18th century . Klartext Verlag, Essen 2006, pp. 60–73.