The Wesserling Park

• Wesserling Park - F - 68470 Husseren Wesserling
• Tel. +33 (0)3 89 38 28 08 ou info@parc-wesserling.fr
  
• Cafeteria, restaurant and picnic area on site
• Museum shop, factory outlets

Description

A pleasant and rewarding place to walk spanning 42 acres, evidence of the textile industry in Alsace.

In 1699 the prince abbots of Murbach built a hunting lodge in Wesserling. It was already surrounded by beautiful gardens. In 1762, this pavilion, now called the castle, was transformed into a cotton print factory. Very quickly it became a royal factory.

During the 19th century, the growing demand for textil permitted Wesserling to become a real industrial empire. Around 1860, nearly 6,000 people worked for Gros and Roman families. Thoses families managed the fortunes of this company from 1802 to 1931. They have lived there, in the castle and the many beautiful villas they built in the park called for a long time "Little Paris". They permitted Wesserling to be constantly at the cutting edge in the technical field. Also the first mechanical spinning mills in Europe were developed in Gros-Roman Cie at that time.

During this period, the Wesserling factory received lots of awards and medals of honor including the Universal Exhibitions in Paris, London and Amsterdam.

After a first closing-down in 1931, the industrial adventure revived with Marcel Boussac, the founder of the Maison Christian Dior, owner of a fifty textile factories in France.

From the post-war, however, the situation deteriorated and led inexorably to the final closure of the factory in March 2003.