Haus Einstein (Einstein House)

History: The success of the St.Gallen embroidery industry was also based on its technological lead. The industrialization of production was only made possible by the continuous development of technology: the satin stitch loom, the hand embroidery machine and, most recently, the Schiffli embroidery machine ensured that St.Gallen and Eastern Switzerland repeatedly secured a leading position - also in the field of textile machine construction. One person who wanted to benefit from these locational advantages was the New York embroidery manufacturer Isaak D. Einstein. In 1884, he opened a branch in St.Gallen in an existing factory building at Berneggstrasse 2, which he had converted into an embroidery business premises by the architect Karl August Hiller. The company, initially known as “D. Einstein & Co.” and from 1936 as “Adolph Hahn & Co.”, was one of the most important in the St.Gallen embroidery industry. Years of great success (early 1890s, 1902-08) alternated with downturns caused by economic or fashion cycles. The 1930s, the time of the Great Depression, were particularly difficult. Architecture: The predecessor building was built in 1830 by Sabina Dorothea Allgäuer, the proactive widow of textile finisher Jacob Allgäuer, as a finishing house. It later served as a spinning mill and housed the municipal public kitchen on the first floor in the 1880s; from 1884, the branch of Isaak D. Einstein was located in the building. A three-storey extension was added at Berneggstrasse 4 as early as 1886. This was integrated into the building complex at Berneggstrasse 4-6, which still exists today, as part of a larger extension in 1907. The architect was Jakob Merz. Current use: In 1978, the St.Gallen textile entrepreneur Max Kriemler acquired the buildings and converted them into the four-star Hotel Einstein St.Gallen. This was opened in 1983 and extended in 2009 with the Einstein Congress on Wassergasse. As a tribute to the textile industry, the Einstein St.Gallen offers a Textilland Junior Suite, which is furnished with exquisite Eastern Swiss textiles.