Former employees of the Karnola textile factory are repairing machines damaged by fire

Krnov - Three former employees of the Karnola textile factory in Krnov in the Bruntál region have started to restore historical weaving machines damaged by a fire. There are eight of them, and the work is expected to last until the end of the year. After that, the technical monuments will become part of a museum exhibition documenting the textile industry in Krnov and its surroundings. The textile factory building was destroyed by an intentionally set fire in December 2017. The flames caused the most damage to the so-called "dezinatura", where historical fabric samples and old weaving machines were stored.

One of the restorers is seventy-eight-year-old Jiří Šurman. He spent his entire professional life at Karnola. In 1959, he joined the company as a weaving machine adjuster after completing his apprenticeship. He initially worked as an adjuster and later was promoted to technical positions, such as foreman, until he retired in 2005. The news of the fire at Karnola and the dezinatura shocked him. "We were very sad about it," Šurman said to ČTK.

These days, he has started working with colleagues on restoring the eight historical weaving machines. "We are all former Karnola employees. Our task is to get the machines into a condition suitable for the exhibition. They will never function again, though. The damage, especially to the electronic components, is significant. Moreover, replacement parts are no longer available," said Šurman.

He added that, according to the plan, all the machines should be completed by December. "That's the intention. But it won't be easy. There are only three of us. We are not the youngest, so our health needs to hold up. Hopefully, it will. Then we might make it in time. Currently, we have one machine nearly finished. Seven more are waiting for us," he added.

The fire years ago significantly damaged the valuable fabric sample room with samples, pattern books, and historical weaving machines. The so-called dezinatura was to be part of a large interactive museum project. However, after the fire, the city ultimately withdrew from the plans. It also gave up a hundred-million-crown grant it had received from the European Union. A smaller museum should eventually be created there.

The building itself damaged by fire has already been repaired. Its reconstruction, costing 14.6 million crowns, began last year. The work focused on the interiors of the two floors that were most affected by the fire. The work included replacing floors, ceilings, beams, columns, windows, and doors; applying plaster with internal insulation; painting; and complete electrical distribution. The Moravian-Silesian Region provided a grant of ten million crowns for repairing the fire damage.

"From this grant, we have already used 9.5 million crowns; the remaining 500,000 crowns will be used to restore the machines," said Rostislav Balner from the city development department to ČTK. Once the work is completed, the dezinatura should be accessible to the public in a limited capacity, primarily during occasional tours.

Before the fire that engulfed the former textile factory on December 20, 2017, the workshop was in the state it had been on the last working day. It was unique in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. According to the police, two schoolboys set fire to the building at several locations. The fire caused damage exceeding 19 million crowns. It fully affected the rare fabric sample room, which was intended to serve as the main element of the planned museum.

The building of the former spinning mill with the sample workshop from 1900 is a national cultural monument. The workshop, equipped with mechanical and manual weaving looms of various designs and other machines, designed patterns of the produced fabrics for new seasons. It also included a valuable collection of fabric samples from the late 19th century. What remains of the rare documentation is being restored by former head of the dezinatura, Jitka Navrátilová. Some exhibits are part of a new exhibition on textiles in the Flemmich Villa in Krnov.