One of the most striking symbols of the city of Krnov is undoubtedly the textile industry, whose traces are still indelibly inscribed in the history and current appearance of the city. The beginnings of textile production in Krnov can be documented as early as the Ratiboř Charter from 1379, which testifies to the long tradition, importance and high level of this industry. In the same year, the first cloth shop was also founded in the city, which also had tax exemption. For centuries, Krnov was therefore rightly associated with the textile industry and called the "Silesian Manchester".

          The beginnings of industrial architecture in Krnov are then connected mainly with the process of capitalist industrialization, which in Krnov took place late, but achieved extraordinary growth compared to other historical centers. During the first and second phases of industrialization, textile production developed rapidly, and the town gradually transformed into an important industrial center. In the second half of the 19th century, seventeen factories were established here, producing cloth, silk, wool and woven goods, yarn and various other types of fabrics. The developed textile industry subsequently also supported the establishment of enterprises producing looms and textile machines. The construction of new industrial plants was accompanied by a significant increase in the population - during the second half of the 19th century, the population more than tripled. Another major impetus was the introduction of the steam engine in 1852–1862 and the construction of the railway in 1872, which strengthened the importance of Krnov as an important railway junction. As a result of this development, the edges of the historical core, waterways and transport routes were lined with production facilities. In 1875, a weaving school was also established here.

          Several industrial complexes and family villas of former industrialists have survived in the city and its surroundings. The successes and growth of local companies also attracted non-local architects and builders to Krnov, who significantly influenced its architectural appearance. Otto Fiedler's factory was founded in 1858 with its original headquarters at Barvířská Street 5 (formerly Farbhausgasse). In 1910, however, the company was renamed Erste österr.-schles. Putzwollfabrik Otto Fiedler & Co. and Otto Fiedler and Josef Wagner were listed as partners in the public company. The owners had the new headquarters of the company built the following year at Bruntálská 2313/5. They had the project developed by the Viennese architect Bruno Bauer - a renowned author of designs for industrial complexes and factory buildings; and the holder of more than 120 patents in the field of reinforced concrete structures and the construction of industrial complexes. In addition to the former 1st Austro-Silesian Wool Cleaning Factory, Otto Fiedler (1911) also designed the woolen goods factory of Wilhelm and Jacob Bellak in České armády Street (1912) and the braid weaving mill of the Franz Gabler factory (1912).

          This factory building and the new headquarters of Otto Fiedler & Co. (later also TIG: Textil-Industrie-Gessellschaft) was completed in 1911 on Bruntálská Street, on the southwestern edge of the city, strategically close to the river and the railway station. It is a three-storey factory building with a square floor plan with a reinforced concrete skeleton supplemented with brick lining. The facades are lightened by vertically structured rectangular industrial windows, which almost completely fill the street walls. The modestly designed facade in the spirit of modernism, with large window openings in a regular grid, is distinguished by shallow corner projections – oriented towards the railway and the city – which are emphasized on the 2nd floor by windows with semicircular arches and low attics, the undulation of which is repeated on the gable of the boiler room added in 1918. The company operated until 1934, when it was deleted from the city register of companies. Most of the Krnov cloth factories were merged into the Karnola company after nationalization, and many also disappeared completely. After 1958, the engineering production of the national company Sigma developed at Bruntálská 2313/5, which continued there in the following decades.

Barbora Macháčková