Image courtesy of Merz B. Schwanen

Elliot Watson delves into the heritage of the German company, whose ethos – and garments – have remained the same for over a century.

Resting in Baden Württemburg, Germany’s most south-westerly state, lie the Swabian Jura – a low and undulating stretch of hills cradled by the river Danube and the densely packed pines and firs of the Black Forest.

Hardy pine trees sparsely populate the landscape as the limestone beneath them greedily drains rainwater into fast flowing subterranean rivers, depriving the soil of the nutrients and irrigation required for sustainable arable farming.

The people here survived solely on their modest crops and requisite resourcefulness until, in the mid 19th century, it became clear that intervention was necessary if its starving farming population were to survive.

Forced into action, the German government distributed hand-operated circular knitting machines to the poorest families who, by combining the yields of wool from their small flocks of sheep with their natural Swabian acumen, gave the German textile industry its humble beginnings.

- Elliot Watson / Port Magazine