Expedition department at the Herford Shirt Factory

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Notes: Print of an etching in black ink on white paper. Oval shaped cartridge surrounded with flourishes. Illustration shows employees working in the expedition department of the Herforder Hemdenfabrik. One can see two long tables and high shelves on both sides of the room. Narrative: Brothers Josef and Hermann Elsbach founded the company in 1873 and in 1875 registered it as Herforder shirt factory J.Elsbach & Co. The founders came from a Jewish family in the clothing business since 1848. In 1907 Elsbach became a corporation. In 1914 the company was regarded as Europe's largest clothing company. More than 1,200 factory workers and thousands of home workers were employed. As part of the forced aryanizations of 1938, the family had to sell their shares. The company was taken over and renamed by Ahlers AG Herford linen factories. At the end of the Second World War, the factory buildings were heavily damaged by fire and looting. The military government in the British zone of occupation confiscated the shares of Ahlers in the company. In 1947, Ahlers came back to run the company but he died in1954. From 1952 the company was called back Elsbach linen factories AG. The shares were returned to the surviving heirs of the Elsbach family, Gerhart Maass and his siblings.