Mother of pearl buttons
Buttons used to be made of wood, horn, leg discs, camel hair or metal. Buttons and jewellery made of mother-of-pearl were made from sea and freshwater mussels or marine gastropods. Mainly pearl oysters and snails from overseas were processed.
Mother of pearl splinters during processing, so a roundel was drilled out of the case with a drill bit. The first drilling machines were - similar to a sewing machine - driven by feet. Here they drilled “on foot“.
The roundels were sorted by size, colour and diameter. In the next step, they were shaped. The buttons were turned in a scrubbing barrel to make them smooth and free of unevenness. A treatment with acid and other chemical ingredients gave the buttons their final polish and shine.
At the end they were sorted again and sewn onto button cards. A woman had to sew on about 4,500 buttons for the equivalent of a piece of butter.
At the end they were sorted again and sewn onto button cards. A woman had to sew on about 4,500 buttons for the equivalent of a piece of butter.
Mother of pearl buttons in Kelbra
As early as 1736 button makers were mentioned in Kelbra. Buttons were made by members of the needle guild, trimmers or button makers.
During their travels, the members of the Zierfuß needle family in Vienna, Dresden and Leipzig got to know the production and sale of mother-of-pearl buttons. In December 1822 J.F. Zierfuß opened the first mother-of-pearl button factory in Kelbra. Later the first mother-of-pearl button factories were established in Bad Frankenhausen (1833), Berga (1885) and in other surrounding towns.
Around 1850 the region experienced the first heyday of button production. In Bad Frankenhausen there were almost 100 button makers in six “factories“ in 1851. While buttons were initially made exclusively at home, workshops were later established and by the end of the 19th century, the first button factories with up to 100 employees. The manufacture of buttons was dependent on fashion and the economy. Between 1890 and 1911, button production experienced four major economic slumps, which were accompanied by prolonged unemployment. Every economic slump was accompanied by mass strikes lasting several weeks or even months. The button industry, which mainly processed imported mother-of-pearl, suffered from a shortage of raw materials at the end of the First World War.
In 1931, unemployment began among the button-makers and imports of raw materials declined. Due to the lack of material, buttons were made of wood, plexiglass and even plaster.
After the war, button makers from Kelbra went by bicycle to the Oder River to win fresh water mussels for button production.
Later, buttons were made of polyester. Until the introduction of injection moulding, these buttons were still drilled, grinded and polished in the traditional way.
The Abendroth button factory
The object was built at the beginning of the 20th century as a button factory in brick construction. A part of the northwest building consists of quarry stone masonry and seems to be considerably older. This is evidenced by a well made of unplastered sandstone inside the building.
1907: Friedrich Abendroth and Karl Weißhaupt founded the button factory Friedrich Abendroth.
1913: the factory was one of the largest button producers in the region and employed 101 people.
1925: the production of buttons from the hard trocas screw began.
1968: the production of polyester plates for button production started.
1972: the company was transformed into VEB (public owned operation) Polyesterknopf.
1974: affiliation to the VEB Knopfgalant in Bad Frankenhausen.
1975: the button factory was transformed into a summer camp.
1990: the building was rented out for residential purposes, but also temporarily to a shooting club.
2002: parts of the building were modernised and used as a residential and commercial building.
2011: conversion and renovation by the Aberle family.
 Recording from 1908 |
At the time of reunification 1992 |
Start of renovation in 2011 |
state today |
