Adršpach - Oficiální stránky obce

Flax Industry – The School of Spinning in Adrspach

(Adapted and based on "Schools of Spinning in the Klodzko Border Country" II, pages 142 to 145 written by Jan Klos and published in 1925)

Country people living at the foothills of the Krkonose and the Orlicke Hory Mountains and on both slopes of these mountain ranges had supported themselves by weaving since time immemorial. Nevertheless, since the twenties of the 19th century it had been observed that this trade was declining and that the people were becoming poor and lived in poverty. The external causes of this decline were especially the unsettled matters towards foreign traders after the Napoleonic Wars and also the fact that England was introducing machines into the industry and that flax was being widely replaced by cotton at that time. Cotton fabrics were cheaper, looked nicer and that is why they displaced linens and other flax fabrics from the market. The internal cause of the decline of the flax industry in our country was the backwardness of the local manufacturers. Foreign countries, especially Belgium and Westphalia enhanced their weaving technology by better flax conditioning (soaking in water) and by improving their looms, by using machines in large extent and by establishing schools of spinning. It became obvious that only a specialized school in which flax spinning, flax cultivation and conditioning would be taught could raise the declining flax industry.

The first such school was established in Adrspach by big local landowner and aristocrat Ludvik Karel Nadherny, who called up an experienced teacher of spinning from Westphalia. The teacher brought with him all the state-of-the-art tools necessary for yarn manufacturing. This example was soon followed by other municipalities. The town of Nove Mesto nad Metuji established its school of spinning in 1845. A three-member commission from Nove Mesto nad Metuji arrived in Adrspach on July 28, 1845 to see the model school there, to find out what tools and aids they should buy for their school and to discuss the conditions under which a young woman from Nove Mesto nad Metuji could attend the Adrspach school to be a teacher. The commission then chose Frantiska Imlaufova – a skillful spinner - to be the future teacher in the school of spinning in Nove Mesto nad Metuji and sent her to Adrspach to attend a three-month training course in the Adrspach school.

School-establishing Expenses
The Committee's trip to Adrspach and back	4 florins 12 kreutzers
Frantiska Imlaufova's studies at the Aderspach school	87 days per 12 kreutzers = 17 florins and 24 kreutzers
Fr. Imlaufova's trip to Adrspach and back	3 fl. 36 kr.
Tools and aids bought in Adrspach for the new school	17 fl.
Rent paid for the classroom	20 fl.
Lighting (25 pounds of oil)	12 fl. 28 kr.
Teacher's remuneration paid to Frantiska Imlaufova	15 fl.

Copy of Frantiska Imlaufova's Certificate from the school in Adrspach:

The below signed Head Office of the School of Spinning hereby certifies that Frantiska Imlaufova from Nove Mesto nad Metuji in Bohemia attended, at the expenses of the municipality, the classes at the School of Spinning established and equipped according to the Westphalian schools from August 21st to November 15th where she was duly trained in flax conditioning by beating, bending, scutching, soaking in water as well as in the spinning technique. The aforenamed then passed the final examination before the board by answering all the questions she was asked.

Given at the Castle in Adrspach this 15th day of November in the year of our Lord 1845
Henry Wiesbrock, Teacher of Spinning
Certified in full extent by
Ludvik Karel the Nobleman Nadherny

The commission is Adrspach found out that the teaching makes the learners acquire better spinning methods in order to produce finer, stronger and smoother linen. The new school opened in Nove Mesto nad Metuji on the 5th of January, 1846 had 40 learners in the first course. The number of spinning schools was increasing very quickly between 1845 and 1847. Princely Counsellor Otto Erich – the authorized head of the Nachod Demesne established various spinning mills in the Nachod Region, the Prelate of Broumov in the Broumov Region... In 1847, there existed more than 50 spinning schools in this part of Bohemia, namely in Nachod, Kostelec, Upice, Skalice, Hronov, Zbecnik, Horicky, Chvalkovice, Cervena Hura, Police nad Metuji, Broumov, Marsov, Starkov, Teplice nad Metuji, Nove Mesto nad Metuji, Opocno, Bohuslavice, Letohrad, Vrchlabi and in many other towns in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, even in towns on the Prussian side of the border.

The schools of spinning were established with great expectations. Although the immediate purpose of these schools, i.e. the manufacture of better-quality yarns, was accomplished, contrary to the expectations, the school yarns could not compete with machine-spun yarns on price. This was one of the reasons why many of the schools closed down.

In 1846, Marek Teller - a barber-surgeon in Hronov, wrote the book "Der Leinbau, die Flachsbereitung und das Feinspinnen zu Adersbach" that was based on the information given to him by the local master spinner and on his own observations. Published by Jan Hostivit Pospisil in Hradec Kralove, the book was intended mainly for small farmers, for the respective clerical workers and landowners. Teller dedicated his book to Ludvik the Nobleman Nadherny – the owner of the Adrspach Demesne, who had called master spinner Henry Wisbaur to establish the model school of spinning in Adrspach.

The same year (1846), Jan Nyvlt – a teacher in the village of Horni Radechova, translated the Teller's book into the Czech language. This translation was also published by Jan Hostivit Pospisil in Hradec Kralove. The price of the translated book was 12 kreutzers and it was dedicated to Josef Regner – "a Nachod District School Inspector, the Secretary of the Industry-development Society, the Dean of Nachod, the Father of the Patriotic Youth Movement, et cetera, et cetera."