Textile Museum of Upper Franconia

In the town centre of Helmbrechts in Bavaria, close to the town hall, is the textile museum of the region of Upper Franconia. It was planned as a local history museum in the 1920s but since 1992 it has focused on textiles. In around 1900, the region exported clothing material all over the world. The museum celebrates the diverse goods produced for different markets: to make scarves in Afghanistan, saris in India, ponchos in South America ... It holds an important archive of textile sample books. The museum also examines the working lives of the weavers and the role of guilds. After seeing a hand-loom workshop from the mid-nineteenth century visitors experience a working power-loom. They can handle samples of raw linen, wool and cotton. A novelty is the longest scarf in the world, over 4,000 m long, which has been made since 1997 by school students who add more each week. There are also temporary exhibitions, a shop and a café.