The Bocholt textile museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in Bocholt, a city in the north-west of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, part of the district Borken. It is situated 4 km south of the border with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The museum opened in 1989 as one of the eight locations of the LWL Industrial Museum: it is an Anchor point on the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The a ...

Context

Munsterland, the area of land that straddles the German Dutch border was known for cotton. The soil was not fertile and from the 16th century additional income was gained from

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

production to make

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

, which was woven into a rough

sail cloth A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, Windsurfing, windsurfers, ice boats, and even land sailing, sail-powered l ...

. With the 19th century Bocholt was producing

fustian Fustian is a variety of heavy cloth woven from cotton, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used figuratively to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare. This literary use is beca ...

(tree silk), a compound cloth of linen

warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

weft Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is draw ...

. This was exported. The textile merchants then established cotton mills that exploited these skills and trade links.Munsterland Cotton Route
European Textile Network with the Northrhine-Westphalia Ministry for Building and Traffic, 2014 20190810TextilmuseumBocholt 35b

Buildings

The museum is set in two buildings on the opposite side of the river Aa. The first is the

spinning mill Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

of Spinnerei Herding. The second is a reconstructed single storey

weaving shed A weaving shed is a distinctive type of mill developed in the early 1800s in Lancashire, :Derbyshire and Yorkshire to accommodate the new power looms weaving cotton, silk, woollen and worsted. A weaving shed can be a stand-alone mill, or a ...

with its typical sawtooth roofs. In the weaving shed 30 looms remain operational.

History

Herdings mill was commissioned in 1907. It was designed by the Swiss architects

Sequin and Knobel Sequin and Knobel, or Séquin and Knobel, were a Swiss firm of architects notable for the design of industrial building such as cotton mills and weaving sheds. It was formed in 1895. The partners were Carl Arnold Séquin and Hilarius Knobel. Togethe ...

as a model mill. There were automated looms from the U.S. and 23,000 cotton spindles.

Museum

The museum opened in 1989 as one of the eight locations of the LWL Industrial Museum. The weaving shed is a reconstruction of the 'websaale' at Weberei Gebr. Essing in

Rhede Rhede () is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approximately east of Bocholt. Notable residents * Thomas Giessing, athlete and Olympic ...

which was demolished in 1985. The museum retrieved the cast iron columns that supported the roof and the lineshafting. This firm had equipped its shed in 1889 to 1894 with 50

loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...

s tented by 25 weavers. The museum can operate 32 looms currently and uses the rest of this shed to display other textile machines. Textilmuseum Bocholt Dampfmaschine 2

In the engine house there is a 1917 tandem compound

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars ...

that came from the Baumwollweberei Heuveldop Also reconstructed is and office, a workers house and an engineering workshop of that period.

Collections

In the weaving shed, only a part of the collection is displayed. Since 1984 samples have been collected of all aspects of the spinning (mule and ring spinning), weaving (raw cotton weaving, coloured woven goods, ribbon weaving) process and the finishing processes (bleaching, dyeing, printing). In addition, the fields of knitting (vests, jumpers), embroidery, ornamental textiles (ribbons, braiding and trimmings), lace and curtain-making are separate themes within the collection. The museum stores contain complete specialised workshops and an extensive collection of historic pattern books, fabric samples, designs and drawings. The spinning mill is used for exhibition, meeting space and temporary displays.

References

;Notes ;Footnotes

External links

LWL Industriemuseum
Website

{{European Route of Industrial Heritage Museums in North Rhine-Westphalia Industry museums in Germany Textile museums in Germany European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points

Textile museum A textile museum is a museum with exhibits relating to the history and art of textiles, including: * Textile industries and manufacturing, often located in former factories or buildings involved in the design and production of yarn, cloth and clo ...