History of Science and Technology
Project: Loom, Labor, and the Living Room: Technological and Cultural Transformations in Cottage Ribbon Weaving in the Bergisches Land, 1890–1980
Supervisors: Anne Sophie Overkamp
Contact
moersener@uni-wuppertal.de
+49-202-439-5817
Glanzstoffhaus
Kasinostraße 19-21
42103 Wuppertal
6th Floor, Room 21
Project summary
The Barmen articles (Barmer Artikel)—ribbons, braids, and cords for both everyday use and fine fashion—have been exported worldwide since the 18th century. As late as the 1950s, nearly 90 percent of these items were manufactured in the western German region of Bergisches Land. Although numerous ribbon factories were established since the late 19th century, a substantial part of the Bergisch ribbon production remained in home-based workshops. It was not until the 1980s that fully automatic weaving machines ultimately replaced mechanical looms, along with the cultural life that had accompanied them. This dissertation explores the technological and cultural transformations of cottage ribbon weaving in the Bergisches Land region between 1890 and 1980. While much of the historiography of technology has focused on innovation and novelty, this study examines the persistence of older technologies and their entanglement with everyday culture. In doing so, it contributes to debates on temporality, tacit knowledge, and material cultures in 20th-century history.
Talks
- „Tiere vor der Kamera. Film als Forschungstechnologie in der Verhaltensbiologie der 1960er Jahre“, ANIMAL-BASED. Historische Perspektiven auf Tiere in Medizin, Wissenschaft und Technik, Jahrestagung der GWMT in Dresden, September 2025.
- „Präparat oder Modell? Der Film als Forschungstechnologie am Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie“, Materialien des Forschens und Lernens, Early Career Workshop at University of Wuppertal, May 2025.
- „Die moralische Ökonomie des wissenschaftlichen Films – Wirtschaftshistorische Aspekte des internationalen Filmarchivs Encyclopaedia Cinematographica (EC)“, Regionale Wirtschaftsgeschichte im Zeitalter der Globalisierung, Frühjahrstagung des Arbeitskreises für die Geschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts der Historischen Kommission für Niedersachsen und Bremen in Wolfenbüttel, March 2025.
Short Biography
- Since 2025: Ph.D. candidate in History of Science and Technology, University of Wuppertal
- 2022–2025: M.A. in History of Global Markets (Economic and Social History), University of Göttingen
- 2018–2022: B.A. in Economic and Social History and Philosophy, University of Göttingen
