00:00:00: Without this sound the world would be a little bit drearier. What you are hearing is the noise of water scoops the bleachers used to moisten their yarn, initially grey in colour, for as long as it took for the yarn to turn white.

00:00:19: As far back as the 15th century they boiled the yarn in special caustic solutions and then spread it over the broad meadows lining the Wupper. It was then doused with cold, clear water from the Wupper for months on end, until chemical processes turned it pristine white. Allegedly the banks of the river below us were once covered with so much yarn that from a distance it looked as if it had been snowing…

00:00:41: It was thus the bleachers who laid the foundation for Wuppertal’s long and illustrious history of textile manufacturing. Believe it or not, by the middle of the 19th century three quarters of all workers were employed in the textile industry.

00:00:58: Today, it is only one in twenty - but a company with a tradition of about 200 years is still big in its industry: The Heckinghauser company Barthels-Feldhoff. Here, the so-called iron yarn was invented. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:29.000 Although it does not contain iron, it is particularly durable. When you tied your shoes this morning, it is not unlikely that you were holding a product from the company in the Brändströmstraße in your hands. The company still produces shoelaces - but nowadays also high-tech textile products...