Textilmuseet
Open today 12-17
Open today 12-17
Textilmuseet

Textile industry

Borås was built of textiles. Sure, there were a few other things as well. But it is doubtless textiles that put Borås and the Sjuhärad area on the map. Borås was, is and will likely remain a typical textile city. It is no coincidence that the Textile Museum of Sweden is located here.

It started with putting-out work and manufacturing goods in rural homes, and in time developed in to large-scale industrial production. Via qualified industrial espionage on the Continent, the smuggling of machines and knowledge-gathering from foreign engineers, the textile industry became a success of grand proportions. At present, most Swedish production has moved abroad, but the textile companies headquarters, including their design, administration and logistics departments, are still here.

The textile industrial heritage in Borås and the surrounding area is thus considerable. This is why the museum has been commissioned to highlight and communicate the textile industrial heritage of the region. So it is not curious at all that the Textile Museum of Sweden has managed to collect a textile machine or two over the years. Our visitors will be able to see and interact with several of our textile machines in the new permanent exhibition about the textile industry, where the museums technicians will show the process in full, from A to Z – or rather, from fibre to finished fabric.

Textile machines

The Textile Museum of Sweden has a unique collection of machines that reflects the textile industrial development of the area. There are 390 machines in the museums collections, including sewing machines. The machines that are still functional showcase not only the technological development between the 19th century and today, but also the entire production process. The collection contains among other things carding machines, spinning machines, looms and tricot machines.

Except for machines, the museum has also collected a large number of specialised tools and related objects from various textile companies – everything from a punch clock to various measuring instruments, together with tools that reflect the working environment and the working process.

The exhibition Textile Power

With the permanent exhibition about the textile industry, Textile Power, the Textile Museum of Sweden wants to make visitors aware of the significance of the textile industry, along with its light and darksides. The exhibition considers the machines possibilities and peoples lives. Local development reflects in terms of contemporary international developments. Naturally, we will be able to show the process from fibre to finished product on our machines.