Commercial councilor Ludwig von Hartmann (1766-1852)
The end of Napoleon’s Continental System meant that textile processing mills across the country saw a considerable drop in sales due to lower-cost competition in England. The result: mill after mill was forced to close. Despite this trend – or perhaps because of it – Ludwig Hartmann, the company founder, took over a textile mill in Heidenheim and turned it into the largest cotton-spinning mill in Württemberg, producing “caps, stockings, and handkerchiefs”.
