FROM THE ARCHIVE: SHUTTLE TOUR - TRAVEL THE WEAVERS' ROAD IN AUSTRIA

Illustrations by Christopher Corr

Written by Andrea Tierney (Selvedge issue 41)

There is a road called Weberstrasse – Weavers’ Road – running through the beautiful countryside north of the Danube and south of the Bohemian Forest (part of the Mühlviertel region). From the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century flax was grown in this region. The fibres of the flax plant (commonly Linum usitatissimum) were spun and woven into cloth. The flax seeds were pressed to yield precious linseed oil in the mills along the local river, the Mühl.

For centuries linen production was the most important regional trade. Many local farmers and weavers cultivated flax and produced linen in large enough quantities not only to supply local demand but also to export widely, bringing great prosperity to the region. But from 1784, when the Englishman Edmund Cartwright invented the first mechanical loom, changes in production brought great social upheaval. As industrialiSation replaced the handloom, local weaver communities abandoned old work practices.

Illustrations by Christopher Corr

Today the manufacture of linen in local workshops is undergoing a renaissance. In village after village along the Weberstrasse surviving and newly founded manufacturers of linen are weaving once more – although some use imported flax from other European growers because the huge Moldova dam across the Czech border has altered the climate and the growing conditions for flax.

How is it that linen, in competition with so many other textile fibres, has maintained its place as one of the world’s most cherished materials? The beauty of linen lies in its natural characteristics – the robustness of its fibres lend it extraordinary longevity. Its non-allergenic nature makes it ideal for the most sensitive skin and its anti-static properties repel dust and dirt. Flax fibres absorb moisture but dry fast. The cloth drapes well and is comfortable to wear. As consumers grow more eco-conscious, flax proves to be the most environmentally friendly of all textiles fibres. Growing it does not diminish the soil, its production does not harm the eco-system and finished products are biodegradable.

Travelling along the Weavers’ Road, one experiences centuries of traditional spinning, weaving and dyeing techniques, but alive to today’s taste and design. In July weavers from across the Mühlviertel are joined by others from around the world. This ‘Weavers’ Market’ takes place annually in the historic town of Haslach, itself the centre of the weaving tradition. Haslach is home to the Weaving College, founded in 1883. It is an integral part of ‘Textile Kultur Haslach’ – a forum to advance contemporary weaving practice.

The textile shops in Haslach offer traditional and contemporary linen products. While the local weaving museum educates visitors about the process of spinning and weaving as well as displaying a range of mechanical looms in action. Only a few miles from Haslach, in the small town of Helfenberg, you will find the Vieböck weaving company, which dates back to 1832. If you ask nicely you might be taken on a tour of the production rooms which resound with the rhythm of their weaving machines.

Illustrations by Christopher Corr

A few miles on in the village of Ahorn, the Ahorn Naturfabrik produces fine linens for household textiles as well as mattresses, beds and wooden furniture – an unusual retail feature is the fountain in the middle of the shop that spouts drinking water from a natural spring. Leitner in Ulrichsberg may not have onsite refreshment but it has manufactured linen since 1853. This village lies in the northernmost corner of the Mühlviertel where the three countries, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, meet at the foot of the Bohemian Forest.

Indigo dyeing on linen is traditional in this region. The small town of Gutau has always been a centre of ‘blue-printing’. ‘Blaudrucker’ (blue-printers) from other parts of Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic (Moravia) come here once a year, in early May, to exhibit and sell their designs at the Dyers’ Market.

A former dyer’s house, built in the 14th century, where generations of a dyer’s family worked lives on as the historical Dyer’s Museum in Gutau. By far the biggest dwelling in the village, it houses displays that demonstrate all stages of printing, dyeing, drying and pressing the linen. The printer’s table, hundreds of wooden printing blocks, a gigantic wooden press for finishing the cloth, the laboratory of the master dyer and even a tiny on-site bedroom for the dyer’s apprentice evoke a time when linen, woven by women in their farmhouses during the long winter months, was taken to the Blue-printer’s house in early spring. The women would choose a pattern and have their fabric starch resist-printed and indigo-dyed. Clothes made from linen would last a person a decade, sometimes a whole lifetime.

Whereas ‘blue-printing’ in Gutau ended in 1968, production of this method can be found today in Bad Leonfelden – another town on the Weavers’ route worth visiting. Here Maria and Karl Wagner keep up the old tradition of manually dyeing and printing locally manufactured linen. In a long line of indigo dyers, dating back 130 years, they represent the fourth generation, supplying producers of traditional costume as well as fashion designers with blue, hand-printed linen of the finest quality.

Slow TV, Linen Harvest
Make sure to tune into our upcoming Slow TV experience, a live streaming of the flax harvest at  Silverburn Flax Mill.

The date of the Slow TV event can only be predicted a few days ahead of the harvest of the flax crop at Silverburn Flax Mill. Nature defines the harvest and cannot be hurried. We will follow the flax crop during the month of September 2022 to monitor when it is ready to harvest and for the Slow TV event to document the process. Filming is dependent on the flax crop and the weather.

This is a free event that will live streamed on our website on the SLOW TV PAGE.