St. Gallen Textile and Embroidery Museum, Switzerland
After a quick tour of St Gallen Cathedral we visited the Textilmuseum of St Gallen. A red colored building, Palazzo Rosso, it housed both Textile Museum and Textile Library.
St. Gallen is famous for Swiss Textile Industries. It is here the monks of 15th century got involved in making intricate embroidery. The city soon turned into a major trade center of middle ages. By 16th century and 17th century every royal coat and gown was wrapped with delicate embroidery from St. Gallen of Switzerland.
However the World Wars had a devastating effect on the textile industries here. Modernization in outside world had a negative effect on textile industries. As a result trades here dropped. But even today it is reputed to produce quality products and even provide fashionable stuffs to fashion designers from Paris and New York.
Textilmuseum – Musée du textile de Saint-Gall
History of St Gallen Textile Museum
St Gallen Textile Museum was founded in 1878. It started with a good objective to inspire industry, to be a model for production, and also to encourage the society to cultivate good taste.
The Association of St. Gallen´s Merchants worked hard by collecting pattern samples for local manufacturers and systematically expanding the existing collection. Slowly the collections increased. All due to generous contributions through textile industry archives and significant private collections.
Displays in St Gallen Textile Museum
Textile Museum of St. Gallen has good collection of antique fabrics. It was mind boggling to see fabrics from Coptic graves in Egypt! Precious historical embroideries from the 14th century on handmade lace from major European lace-making centers are on display. Ethnological textiles, historical fabrics and costumes, needlework, and contemporary textile art objects hold on to your attention.
The entire journey from sewing with hands to modern sewing is presented here. Even those with no interest in sewing get hooked to the journey of evolution of modern day sewing here. If you are fluent with German you will understand the stories associated with the exhibits better.
The visual impact is good. Rarely can one see such varied old textiles from different time periods under one roof. Have you been to any textile museum before?
In addition to the textile exhibits the museum at St. Gallen has several books too. Very old designs all bound in thick fat books. The machine here functions even today. We saw a group of designers there, bent with concentration over their work. It is a huge source of inspiration for innovators and designers around the world.
Well displayed objects and books with English written descriptions for each room. Even without translations it is a feast for the eyes!
If you have time enough watch the 30 minutes of video about the factory.
Live Project in Textile Museum
There is a live project on in St Gallen Textilmuseum which you can be a part of. Make your mark at the Textile Museum St. Gallen through the art of collaborative embroidery. You can choose to embroider your initials or create a unique, personal artwork. Your contribution will join others, forming a larger collective creation that grows with each passing day.
Discover the joy of needle and thread as you contribute to a shared masterpiece. Embroidery is a skill that anyone can learn, and everyone is invited to participate. Unleash your creativity and be a part of this inspiring collaborative project at the Textile Museum St. Gallen.
Location of Textile Museum
It is located in St Gallen old town. Address of the textile museum is Vadianstrasse 2, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland. You can reach via road from Zurich.
Open Timings and Tickets
Timings: St Gallen Textile museum is open on all days 10AM to 5PM.
Tickets: Tickets for adults cost 12 CHF. It is free entry to all below 18years. Free entrance if you hold the Swiss Pass.
The museum conducts private and guided tours through the museum.
Appears an interesting place to visit.
Looks like a wonderful place. (I am watching The Devil Wore Prada and thinking of what goes into the making of textiles….)
The examples of the embroidery you've pictured are intricate and beautiful. Although your photos are wonderful, I can only imagine what it would be like to see these in person.
Great work and very interesting.
Happy week to you!
textiles tell so much. I must post about Hawaiian KAPA cloth soon.
Thank you for informing and commenting!
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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How interesting, Indrani! I didn't know that St Gallen was famous for its lace industry. I went to Brussels to buy lace for my weddingdress.
Something else: this morning I saw a photo of the beautiful Sri Padmanabhaswami temple in which an enormous treasure was found.What is going to happen with all that gold and all the diamonds? Will the poor also benefit from this treasure?
Must be interesting to see the different materials in the museum.
I find your history lession for interesting. I enjoyed looking at your photos. Thanks for sharing with us.
A lovely post with a lot of interest and great photos.
Beautiful photos. It must be very interesting museum. I wish you a happy summer.
Oh what an interesting place and history! The Swiss embroidery has high reputation and it is amazing that the monks of 15th century got involved in making embroidery. My favorite is the first photo.
Have a great day!
The lace on display looks intricate! I would love to explore a textile museum -sounds interesting! 🙂
Love the dresses.
Beautiful embroidery work.
Wow , Modernization affects everything .
Learned something new!
Indrani, interesting museum and photos. Have a great week!
textile museums are fascinating to me. I would love to see how they made such intricate works.
What a fascinating post, Indrani! I, too, would love to see the machines working and it does indeed look complicated! Hope you have a great week!
Sylvia
I would love to see the machines working. It all sounds so complicated. 🙂
What fine detailed work!
Living So Abundantly: New meme coming this Thursday, July 7, 2011, Give Back Thursday–come join the fun!
Fascinating how the monks of days gone by busied themselves with such exquisite embroidery. This type of creative work apparently was done by machinery even long ago. It’s good to know these designs are preserved and that people value their beauty to this day.
That looks like a fascinating place to visit. Great shot from the museum.
Grea tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Beautiful photos Indrani.
Nice shots Indrani.
greetings, Joop