History of the location
During industrialisation, the textile industry in particular experienced an unparalleled boom in western Saxony, leading to a sharp increase in the need for training in the textile sector. As early as 1848, Karl Bruno Weinhold established the first weaving course in Reichenbach im Vogtland, which developed into Germany’s first textile training school. In 1899, it moved into a new weaving school building and became the “Höhere Webschule” (Higher Weaving School), which was steadily expanded and finally renamed the “Höhere Textilfachschule” (Higher Textile School) in 1920. In response to the increased need for space, the new building shown here was erected in 1927 in the factory compound style. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the independent textile school became a branch of the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau (WHZ) with a course of study in “Textile and Leather Technology”. Unfortunately, even this did not ensure the continuation of university education in Reichenbach, as the course had to move to Zwickau in 2015 and the building was thus vacated.
