Back in 1841, brothers Hesslein - Sigmund, Gabriel and Herrmann - established the textiles company S. A. Hesslein. Today, Sahco fabrics are better than ever.
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Until 1900, S. A. Hesslein traded in the finest upholstery and furnishing fabrics. Silks were imported from Paris and Lyons, and precious Persian carpets from Vienna and Constantinople. The company flourished when the First World War breaks out in 1914. Despite the harsh economic crisis and steep inflation, in 1926, bales of fabric are soon tumbling into the company's stores again from all over the world, and the firm enters the old export markets again.
In 1938, during "Kristallnacht", S. A. Hesslein is requisitioned by the National Socialists. The Hesslein family emigrates to the United States. The company's building is completely destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945. In 1946, Ludwig Fleischmann takes over the rebuilding of the company.
Together with Dr. Georg Grohmann, the Hesslein's family lawyer, he then buys S.A. Hesslein in 1954 and changes it to S.A. Hesslein & Co. In 1969, Hans-Herbert Stadt, owner of an upholstery fabric weaving mill, joins the Board of Directors as a further shareholder with personal liability; later, he becomes sole director of the company, which now also begins to expand into overseas markets.
In 1973, Sahco Hesslein moves into larger business premises n Nuremberg-Langwasser and gradually builds up its international sales network with branches in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy. Bergamo Fabrics New York also opens up the US market at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1975, S.A. Hesslein & Co. becomes SAHCO Hesslein, for the sake of the French and their unpronounced H. After all, at this time, France is the most important European export market for the textile industry.
1985 sees the start of the successful collaboration, still ongoing today, with the famous Amsterdam designer Ulf Moritz, who has long been writing textile history with his spectacular fabrics. In the year 2000, alongside the existing showrooms in New York, Paris, Milan, London and Brussels, new ones are opened in Cannes, Düsseldorf and Munich.
In 2001, Sahco Hesslein persuades New Yorker designer Lori Weitzner to join the team – a cooperation which continues to this day. Since then, her romantic yet playful fabric and wallpaper collections have been just as much part of the company's repertoire as the avant-garde designs of Ulf Moritz and the modern, sophisticated designs developed by the in-house team. ■