Knowledge atlas
Crafts
Peggy Wunderlich, Torsten Bäz, Cammann tapestry Manufactory
In 2014, Peggy Wunderlich and Torsten Bäz bought the weaving mill founded by Paul Cammann in Chemnitz in 1886 and ran it as a sideline. In 2020, with the purchase of a second manufactory, the Eschke silk weaving mill in Crimmitschau, the management of both companies became their main occupation. With the traditionally high-quality standards for materials and workmanship, both are leading the company into the future with attention to detail in individual and customized quantities.
- Type of Craft
- Production of high-quality upholstery and decorative fabrics according to individual customer requirements. Implementation of new ideas as well as use of their own extensive sample archive, considering and adapting to current customer requirements and needs - approx. 290 designs in stock. Research into and reconstruction of historical textiles in the context of monument preservation in close cooperation with the commissioning institutions.
- Knowledge Holder
- Extensive historical sample archive. Cooperation with museums and their textile sample collections. Use of archival records of Saxonian textile companies from public Saxonian archives.
- Location, Website
- Camman Gobelin Manufaktur, Inselsteig 16, 09577 Niederwiesa (Ortsteil Braunsdorf), Germany; Link to website
- Contact
- info@cammann-manufaktur.de; +49 174 8904044
- Type of Business
- Purchase of a traditional regional company, today part of the ‘STW Sächsische Textilwerke GmbH’
- Year of Establishment
- Founded in 1886, since then uninterrupted production regardless of ownership, only brief interruption in 1945 when all machines were transported to the Soviet Union as reparations payments after the end of World War II.
- Workshop and sales space
- One large workshop room with loom, sample archive, yarn store and product presentation. More looms in the machine room of the historic Braunsdorf show weaving mill, formerly the Tannhauer weaving mill. Internet presence for the presentation of the variety of samples and preliminary information. Visits to customers, especially in monument preservation and museums. Sales via interior decorators and restorers.
- Materials
- Silk, cotton, wool, viscose, but also other materials on customer request; different suppliers, mainly regional, but also e.g. from Italy and Poland if required; purchased as raw thread, dyed as required in a permanent dyeing house; textile waste is passed on to a cooperating company for recycling
- Technology / Tools / Machines
- Textile design with cartridge drawing (CAD system) and technology for the production of punched cards; binding techniques for machine tapestry production; yarn winding technique, warping machine to produce warp beams and knotting technique; shuttle looms with Jacquard control and accessories; coloring technique (stencil printing) with confection techniques
- Techniques / Processes
- Drawing of the design and sample production resp. selection of the sample from the sample archive. Possible adaptation of the sample to the customer's wishes resp. technical requirements. Selection of materials, possible dyeing of the thread according to special requests, regional yarn production. Setting up the loom (producing warp, preparing yarns). Weaving, Confectioning, possibly recoloring. Returning textile waste to the material cycle at cooperating companies. Delivery of sample remnants, spools and cones to artists for further creative use.
- Members / Employees
- In addition to Peggy Wunderlich and Torsten Bäz, a weaver and a textile designer work in the company. A pool of specialists from other weaving mills supplements as required.
- Apprentices
- No apprentices (apprenticeship is possible), but cooperation with universities to convey the diverse possibilities of weaving and to provide an insight into the sample archive. Constant exploration of possible cooperation with other companies, design schools, craftsmen and restorers.
- Education of the Craftsperson
- Peggy Wunderlich, Industrial clerk; Torsten Bäz, Technician in maintenance mechanics (worked for manufacturers of special protective clothing/outdoor textiles after 1990)
- Best-selling product
- Upholstery fabrics, window decorations, wall coverings in various historical styles and eras. Here, both companies, Cammann and Seidenweberei Eschke, can work together and complement each other with their products.
- Average time of production
- Projects have an average duration of approx. 6 - 12 weeks. More extensive (e.g. thread-accurate) recreations/reconstructions of fabrics can also take up to 12 months.
- Average price per item
- Very individual, depending on various factors.
When customers visit the company and gain an insight into the processes involved in the production of their desired fabric - from the selection and procurement of the material to production and finishing - there is a growing appreciation of this craft and acceptance of the comparatively high prices. Another positive aspect is the longevity of the fabrics, which is far longer than the lifespan of cheaper mass-produced products. The individuality of the product in the right quantity is another reason to buy.
