The pillars of the hat manufactory in Regensburg are the foresight of our ancestors, the luck of being spared by both wars, the specialized knowledge which has been accumulated and passed on through five generations. Also the archaic factory, where we are still working hard, the traditional tools, which we still use, and 5000 different wooden hat templates from various eras.
Thanks to the expert knowledge that our "Meister" gained whilst training at the hat manufactory Zapf in Austria, and the following modiste education in Augsburg, we can guarantee the finest in quality for the most discerning of ladies and gentlemen.
Who loves his job like our hat maker does, knows how it works!
“Naß und Heiß ist dem Filz sei Speiß” is the saying - felt is fed by moisture and heat.
The only way to process our raw material - the finest of rabbit or natural hair - is heat, pressure, and moisture. The longer and more intensive the treatment, the more robust is the hat at the end. Our manufactory is still using the old traditional "englische Zurichte". This rare technique is only possible with direct manual labour. And only with this complicated process, which includes between 60 and 80 working steps, can the felt become strong and stable.
We turn our attention now to long wear function, durability and individual appearance.
- The cone is a work of art made of natural hair and water without adhesive
- The factory makes their hats steam in the faint scent of "Appretur" (glaze/finish)
- The moulding is dipped into the glaze, the hot felt is run through the press and the felt is laid out in a copper steam bowl for a couple of minutes
- With his bare and calloused hands he frees the hot felt and fights a hurried battle with the material
- The forming machine grips the rim of the cone and pulls and stretches it
- After the first drying, the most important step follows, which is called "cutting", where the cone is broken in a way that a brim develops
- The cone's "life" has to be taken to guarantee form stability afterwards. Only at our factory this is still happening in real handcraft
- The felt is now ironed, dried, ironed again until the felting process is finished
- Then we use a traditional machine, the "Lüstriermaschine", to blow away the excess hair
- After three days and 80 working steps, the felt is moved to a hat along with the lining, sweatband, and hatband
Finally the "Meister" carefully holds the hat in his hand, it is an object of perfect design - a masterpiece of curves, bulges and edges.
Other than many hats, our models survive rain showers without losing their shape.
Consequently, our hats are famous worldwide!
