“Time Leaps made by Precious Silk” at Haus der Seidenkultur extended

At Haus der Seidenkultur (HdS), the exhibition “Time Leaps made by Precious Silk” is being extended until 1st February 2015. “This decision has been taken due to the wide public interest”, says HdS spokesperson, Dieter Brenner

The first (temporary) exhibition since the refurbishment presents historic patterns used for ecclesiastical textiles “from traditional to revolutionary”. Traditional is the silk cloth with the elephant pattern which symbolises power, strength, sovereignty. For this reason Otto III had the grave of his predecessor, Charlemagne, opened in the year 1000 in order to re-bury him this time in the said silk cloth which came to the emperor’s court in Aachen as a gift from Byzantium. 

Revolutionary is how the Krefeld-based fashion designer Wolfgang Schinke has incorporated the historic elephant pattern into a Dirndl dress, “definitely the eye-catcher at the next October Fest,” says the avantgarde fashion designer glancing at his exhibit with which he has transported the past to the fashion catwalk of the present.

The exhibition “relates” many exciting stories which are concealed behind the liturgical patterns woven at the former Hubert Gotzes Factory for Ecclesiastical Textiles (now HdS) in Luisenstraße 15. Visitors also learn how once a well-known Italian family of silk weavers came to produce liturgical vestments in Krefeld on a large scale and which role the town deacon at the time, Mr. Bock, played in this.

The exhibition “Time Leaps made by Precious Silk” is open Wednesdays to Fridays from 15 to 18 hours and Sundays from 13 to 17 hours. Group visits can be arranged upon appointment under telephone 510812 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Gondola pattern – Logo of the German Textile Museum – for a fashionable trouser suit or the Ear of Corn pattern for a glamorous evening dress – exhibits from the exhibition “Time Leaps made by Precious Silk”

Precious silk cloth with the most well-known liturgical patterns used for vestments.
HdS photos:  Brenner