Knitting machines - past and present
More than 250 years of textile history
Englishman Josiah Crane from Edmonton is credited as the inventor of the warp knitting machine today. He likely developed the warp knitting machine based on the hand warp frame in 1768.
Other sources state that these knitting machines were only invented in France in 1780. The hand warp frame combined the warp of the loom with the function of the stocking frame. The advent of modern technology and the invention of the drive shaft with lifting discs enabled the mechanisation of warp knitting machines starting in 1807. Since their first appearance in Germany in the Mid-19th century, these machines have gone through constant modernisation and further development, in particular in the textile industry region of Saxony, represented by the Hermann Reichenbach
machine factory, the August Esche machine factory, the Ernst Saupe knitting machine factory, and others.
In 1869, higher textile education was introduced in the Limbach knitting school in Saxony under the direction of Prof. Gustav Willkomm. It was envisioned and co-financed by the Limbach knitting industry.
Visit the Esche Museum in Limbach-Oberfrohna, Saxony, to learn more about the origins of warp knitting and the history of the textile industry!
Current textile production uses cutting-edge warp knitting machines to produce modern materials. In particular, production of knit goods from natural textiles such as silk, cotton, linen, or wool is a focus area for machine developers due to the constantly changing consumer market. Marcus Thümling has succeeded in developing knitting machines for the production of merino jersey. The knit goods produced on these live up to the highest demands and are wildly popular.
