Transcript: #1 Textile history

Jeanne Devos

Grüezi and welcome to Rehetobel. I am Jeanne Devos and together with Marcel Anderwert, I will guide you through the exciting textile history of this village. I'm sure you've already noticed the endearing aura. Traditional embroiderers' houses line the winding streets and in some former factory buildings you seem to hear the machines. I had succumbed to the charm of the village since my earliest childhood. My great-grandmother lived here and during my holidays with «Grosi», I learned to appreciate and love this special place. And you, Marcel, know Rehetobel like the back of your hand, don't you?

Marcel Anderwert

I grew up in Rehetobel. My great-grandfather built up the Tobler&Co hosiery factory to replace his embroidery business which had fallen into crisis and passed it on to his three sons. My parents continued to run it as a family business until today under the name of knitting/sewing factory. We will hear more about this on our walk. Today I live in the Zurich area, but I have not forgotten my roots.

Come with us on a one-hour walk and learn how weaving and embroidery have shaped the village over the last two centuries.

But first sit down on the bench here. Jeanne, how did the textile industry begin in Rehetobel?

Jeanne Devos

The beginning of textile employment in the Rehetobel area can be found in the 16th century. At that time spinning flax and weaving linen became seasonal supplementary occupations for small farmers in the surrounding hamlets. The fabric was delivered to the textile merchants of the city of St. Gallen.

A typical example of a weaver's house from this time is still preserved in the hamlet of Robach. It was built in 1550 and has a special name. Marcel, you know the story.

Marcel Anderwert

Yes, there is the legend of Frieda Fässler, a later landlady of this house. Because of the mighty wooden beams and floorboards, which she believed were as strong as those from a primeval forest, she called the house «Urwaldhaus». The restaurant «Bären» has been operating in it since 1805. She herself ran the restaurant from 1927 to 1966. It is said that the young people of Rehetobel used to go dancing in the «Urwaldhaus». Frieda Fässler owned one of the first gramophones. Maybe one could listen to pieces of music like «Veronika, der Lenz ist da».

Short musical recording of «Veronika, der Lenz ist da…» (Veronica, the spring is here)

Today that music has fallen silent, but the «Bären» has remained as a popular inn in its original décor. It is worth a visit.

Jeanne Devos

After flax weaving, cotton gradually arrived in our region around 1750. Since the old looms could be used to weave both, linen and cotton, people made good use of this double option, depending on the economic situation. The cotton industry developed rapidly so that it soon became the most important branch of industry in eastern Switzerland.

In the 19th century hand embroidery machines finally came to Rehetobel. Many home workers turned to embroidery because there was more money to be made than with weaving. In the village as well as in the hamlets and remote farms, the looms were replaced by embroidery machines. However, the size of these iron hand embroidery machines meant that the weaving cellars had to be deepened to obtain the necessary height. Often the houses had to be provided with an extension, or even new buildings had to be constructed with correspondingly large embroidery workrooms.

A new technical revolution began later with the invention and development of the shuttle embroidery machine. The accelerated embroidery process enabled up to ten times the output of the hand embroidery machine. These machines could also be operated by individual embroiderers at home. That’s why they spread quickly.

The embroiderer Walter Sonderegger senior knows this development in Rehetobel very well:

«In hand embroidery the embroiderer moved the machine with a crank, and with the other hand he guided the pantograph.

Hand embroidery developed into shuttle embroidery. A hand embroidery machine was about three meters long, and the shuttle embroidery machines measured nine meters. These machines with the thread shuttles worked with electricity. The embroiderer also had to trace the pattern himself on the pattern board with the pantograph. The machine set the pace, and the embroiderer had to work with great concentration. There were better and worse embroiderers. The automatic embroidery machine of the Saurer system was developed by Hyppolyt Saurer in 1910, where the pantograph was replaced by a punched card tape. In this way, the patterns were transferred to punched card rolls, which now controlled the machine. For this purpose, the punch machine was invented. The puncher followed the pattern and had to pull the trigger for each stitch. At the same time the machine punched the punch card. The punch card tape now took over the task of the embroiderer to transfer the pattern as skillfully as possible onto the cloth. For me this is still one of the greatest inventions: to develop a machine that could embroider beautiful patterns with the punched card. This engineer has achieved something magnificent.»

Thanks to these technical developments, embroidery soon enjoyed great popularity in Rehetobel. It is not surprising that after 1900 most of the workforce consisted of textile workers. Until 1920 the main income of people in the community came from textile home industries. The enormous employment in the textile industry led to the construction of new roads and buildings.

But enough history. Let's go for a walk, see on the spot what is left of this heritage, and listen to the memories of people from Rehetobel about these bygone times.

Marcel Anderwert

On the paved sidewalk section there are two manhole covers under your feet. Can you hear the water under your feet?

It is the Holderenbach, a brook which originally ran in a ditch that separated the houses around the church («Hof»), and the hamlet of Hüseren. The brook was put into a tube and the ditch filled in so that the old road, on which you are now standing, and the houses on the left in front of you could be built. Later, the new main road, the swimming pool, and the community center were also added.

Now walk along the old village road to location 2. At the shed you will learn what the characteristics of the weavers', embroiderers' and factory owners' houses are.