1804 - IT`S ON THE RECORD

Beginnings are often lost in the mists of time. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the preparation of memoranda of association was not among the favourite activities of people who liked to take the initiative. They simply pitched in and made the most of their chances. But the year 1804 is on the record - documents of that year show that Georg Schöffel obtained a concession for trading in stockings.

Stockings, socks, nightcaps and Swabian pointed hats - the selection was indeed captivating. Schwab-münchen was in those days a stronghold for knitwear producers. "Schwabmünchner Blau [Blue]" was a guarantee of quality. Knitwear was the ideal supplement to the frugal living to be obtained from agriculture, with spinning, dyeing and knitting generally being done under the same roof. The resourceful people of Schwabmünchen were involved in this business as far back as 1675, buying up the goods and travelling throughout the land as traders. Mobile and determined, full of ideas and several steps ahead of their fellow citizens, they were prepared to take entrepreneurial risks. Knitted goods from Schwabmünchen thus reached trade fairs in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Nuremberg, and were later exported to France and Italy.

It was families like the Schöffels who carried on this trade successfully and ensured good sales. Over 2000 local residents were employed by the start of the 19th century with the knitting. Magistrates' records of later years show that in 1804, Georg Schöffel laid the foundations of a traditional company, without imagining what would grow from this in subsequent generations.