In 1877 Paul Zweigart (1852-1902) and Julius Sawitzki (1845-1881) took over the firm of Schmidt & Pfitzenmayer, a cotton textile manufacturer, on Furth Bachstraße 12, Stuttgart. In 1879 they built a new factory in Sindelfingen (15 km southwest of Stuttgart) and changed the emphasis of their production range from cotton textiles to those specifically used for embroidery purposes (Specialität: Decken & Stoffe für Stickerei-Zwecke), including various cotton and linen forms of cloth, perhaps induced by the marriage of Paul Zweigart with an American lady (Mina Zweigart, 1857-1941) from Cincinnati, just one year before, in 1878.
When Paul Zweigart died in 1902, his widow took control of the company and ran it by herself for several years. Then Erwin Wittmann was taken on as managing director. The production of one of Zweigart and Sawitzki most famous products, AIDA-Gewebe (aida), dates to 1907 when Mini Zweigart was running the company. This line of cloth is still being made to the present day.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century the company continues to produce needlework materials, canvases, linens, damasks, machine made laces, in a range of different fibres and yarns. It also has a series of pre-cut shapes that can be sewn together to make mats, runners, etc, using techniques such as crocheting. They also sell a very wide range of printed cotton materials suitable for patchwork and quilting. In addition, the Zweigart und Sawitzki Company has a series of booklets aimed at the ‘amateur’ market, about various aspects of decorative needlework, with patterns and suggestions. These are sold under the name of Zweigart.
Address: Fronäckerstr. 50, Sindelfingen, Baden-Württemberg, 71063 Germany
Also known as: Zweigart
Digital sources:
- http://zweigart.de/ (retrieved 27 June 2016).
- http://www.zweigart.de/geschichte/ (retrieved 27 June 2016).
- http://www.sindelfingen.de/site/Sindelfingen-Internet/get/6110892/361.00--Ehrenbrgerin-Mina-Zweigart1.pdf (retrieved 27 June 2016).
GVE