St.Gallen Textile Trail (Textilweg)

Feel the time when the textile industry shaped Eastern Switzerland

Impressive buildings with names like “Haus Oceanic”, “Haus Pacific” and “Haus Washington” bear witness to the fabulous wealth and prosperity of the City of St.Gallen in the past. The threads of the textile industry's success were woven together here at the embroidery exchange. This is where manufacturers, buyers, embroiderers and finishers met to share information about market conditions, fashions, commissions and rights of ownership of goods. The Lagerhaus (warehouse), railway station and main post office are all symbolic of St.Gallen’s importance as a business location and as a hub for the transfer of goods. The generously proportioned main post office and railway station also reflect the considerable levels of export and travel activity in St.Gallen around the year 1900. There are also some important buildings just outside the old town. One of them is the Tröckneturm in what is now the Lachenquartier. It has a documentation centre devoted to the history of the city of St.Gallen and of the most important branches of the St.Gallen textile industry. Another is the former Sittertal dye works, which also reflects the importance of the textile industry here.

So take a textile trail and marvel at the outstanding buildings, scan the embroidered QR codes, and listen to more about the history and architecture of the area and its current status. The explanations of the buildings on the textile trail are also available in English. The textile trail can be discovered in the city of St.Gallen and/or in St.Gallen West.