The Historic Blue-Dye Factory Museum in Pápa, Hungary

Our regular readers will know that we are always interested in visiting “Industrial Heritage” sites. Seeing old factories and workplaces gives us a better understanding of the living and working conditions of the time, often only from two or three generations ago (like for our grandparents). They also teach us about the admirable skills, often passed on from one generation to the next, and perfected along this timeline. The knowledge of these skills is now slowly getting lost.

So when I read about a century-old blue-dye factory in Papa, now preserved as a museum, our next stop in Hungary was decided.

The Blue-Dye Museum in Pápa is a fascinating place to visit. The complete factory has been preserved, providing a good insight into this traditional craft. (Our header image is a collage: on traditional blue-dyed fabric we have the title text and a photo of the dyeing room.)

The Blue-Dye Museum in Pápa is a fascinating place to visit. The complete factory has been preserved, providing a good insight into this traditional craft.

The Kékfestő Múzeum is located in the original buildings of the former blue-dye factory in Pápa, with all its equipment left in place. It opened in 1962, and was later renovated to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Kluge factory. (Kékfestő [plural Kékfestés] is Hungarian and means Blue-Dyed Cloth. To this day the term is used for all such fabric that originates from Hungary.)

We arrived at the Blue-Dye Museum with little expectation or previous knowledge. Most of what I have written here, I learned during my visit to this museum. There was very little internet research needed afterwards.


DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Hungary
Our guidebook recommendation for people who are looking for valuable information about Hungary: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Hungary !
This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this guidebook on Amazon.

 

The History of the Blue-Dye Factory in Pápa

This factory was founded by German migrants and was operated by the same family until its nationalisation. Johann Friedrich Kluge was a textile worker from Saxony, who migrated to Hungary because it was difficult to find employment in Central Europe at that time. He brought the knowledge and skill of a new textile printing technique, reverse-style cold vat indigo printing, with him.

All blue-dye manufacturers had their unique patterns. Initially, all were hand-printed with wooden blocks. To create a clean printing block was a skill which required a good eye and a steady hand. Sometimes a round pattern was made up from a quarter size printing block arranged in a circle - as shown on the right. Small dots were made by nails hammered into the printing block.

All blue-dye manufacturers had their unique patterns. Initially, all were hand-printed with wooden blocks. To create a clean printing block was a skill which required a good eye and a steady hand. Sometimes a round pattern was made up from a quarter-sized printing block arranged in a circle – as shown on the right. Small dots were made by nails hammered into the printing block.

His son Carl learned the same trade and established his first workshop in Sárvár in 1783. In 1786, he moved to Papa with his family to open a larger blue-dye factory. In the following decades, the business flourished, in part because the Kluge family regularly upgraded their equipment with the latest machinery from Germany.

By 1880, the economic climate was favourable and business was good, which encouraged the family to expand and modernise the factory to the size it is today. One photo in the exhibition shows a staff of 22 workers, 3 trained specialists, 24 sales staff and the entire Kluge family clan. The factory kept producing at full capacity until WWI.

The old staff photograph of the Kluge Blue-Dye factory in Papa.

The old staff photograph of the Kluge Blue-Dye factory in Papa.

In 1956, the factory was nationalised under the Communist regime and subsequently closed down. (Don’t ask me why it was closed almost immediately! I’m as curious as you, but I cannot find any clear explanation about this part of history.) Until this time, the Kluge family had managed this company through seven generations. Prudently, all equipment was left in place with the idea of creating the museum you can visit today.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.


The Importance of Indigo Dyed Fabrics in Europe

Blue dyed fabrics were popular in Europe for centuries. Originally, a plant called woad (Latin Isatis Tinctoria) was used. When indigo found its way to Europe from India in the 17th century, it quickly replaced woad as a fabric dye because of its superior qualities. Indigo dyed clothes are more colourfast and don’t fade as quickly in sunlight.

The resist block printing technique opened the way for intricate white patterns on the blue dyed fabric, and quickly became very desirable. In 2018, the technique and tradition of blue-dyed fabric in Europe was recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The UNESCO listing specifically mentions the complex skills and long running family heritage of this old craft:

Traditional knowledge is still based on (mainly family-owned) journals dating back to the nineteenth century and passed on through observation and hands-on practice. Stakeholders feel a strong emotional bond with their products, and the element encapsulates a sense of pride in long-lasting family traditions. [quote from the UNESCO listing]

Somehow these fabrics have managed to remain popular to this day – from traditionally inspired dresses, to napery, and their use in quilting. Especially in the USA, you find many quilts stitched exclusively with patches of hand-printed blue and white fabrics produced the old-fashioned way. Just browse through Pinterest to see how popular Kékfestő remains.

The walls of the airing attic are used to display textile art by the Iren Body. Imagine how many stamps one would need to make these complex white motifs on indigo dyed fabric.

The walls of the airing attic are used to display textile art by the Iren Body. Imagine how many stamps one would need to make these complex white motifs on indigo dyed fabric.


A Visit to the Blue-Dye Museum in Pápa

When you approach the Blue-Dye Museum, its facade looks just like any other 19th century residential house in the street, only a little less renovated. The front building used to house the administration and salesrooms. This is where we were greeted and paid our small entry fee.

If available, a person will then give a short introduction to the museum. In our case, the older woman only spoke some Hungarian-accented German, which made it hard for Yasha to follow all explanations. Then we were free to wander around and take our time. Most pieces of equipment carry laminated paper signs in 3 languages (Hungarian, German and English); although, sometimes we had to search a little until we found the matching sign.

I’ll skip the other front rooms for now, as we exited the same way. Let’s move on to where we learned about the production of blue-dyed fabrics. The manufacturing is physically separated from the front building, so we crossed the small courtyard.

The first thing I noticed on the tall factory building were lines of protruding rods just below the gutters. Runs of fabric would have hung there to dry in the open air and sun. The entire blue-dye process requires the repeated airing and drying of the material in its several stages.

The Blue-Dye or Kékfestő Múzeum in Papa: on the left an historic photo showing the front of the factory with lengths of fabric hanging down from racks along the roof. On the right the facade today - not much has changed.

The Blue-Dye or Kékfestő Múzeum in Papa: on the left an historic photo showing the front of the factory with lengths of fabric hanging down from racks along the roof. On the right the facade today – not much has changed. [photo credit for image on the right ]


The Black Kitchen and the Dyeing of Kékfestő

The first room to our right was another drying space, which still has heating pipes running through its base. The second room on the right is the washing room, called the “Black Kitchen”. As an initial step the freshly received raw cloth had to be washed to clean it from all residue and starch left from spinning and weaving; otherwise, it wouldn’t take the dye evenly. Indigo is a dye that works best with natural fibres like cotton, linen and wool.

The Black Kitchen (fabric washing room) in the Blue-Dye Museum in Papa: large brick and concrete tubs on an unevenly sloping floor to drain the water away.

The Black Kitchen (fabric washing room) in the Blue-Dye Museum in Papa: large brick and concrete tubs on an unevenly sloping floor to drain the water away.

On the left, is a large room for the dyeing vats. The cloth was fixed to large metal rings, running in a spiral from the inside out; that way long lengths could be immersed in one small round bath (their inner diameter isn’t much over one metre). When the material came here to be dyed, it would have already been stamped with patterns. Follow me upstairs for more about this topic.

The most important room in the Blue-Dye Factory was the dyeing room. Two rows of large tubs with mechanical winches to lift the fabric into the basins.

The most important room in the Blue-Dye Factory was the dyeing room. Two rows of large tubs with mechanical winches to lift the fabric into the basins.

One of the typical metal frames, onto which the fabric was fixed before being lowered into the indigo bath.

One of the typical metal frames, onto which the fabric was fixed before being lowered into the indigo bath.

 

The Resist Block Printing

One large room upstairs is taken up by a Perrotine Textile Printing machine [this page on Wikipedia explains more]. This was the latest technology introduced at Kluge. Have a careful look into the wooden enclosure behind the machine; you can get an idea how large the bales of cloth would have been for mechanical printing.

Earlier, most patterns would have been applied by hand using wooden printing blocks. These leave a pattern of paste on the cloth, where it won’t take up indigo in the dye baths – thus leaving white patterns in the blue. After dyeing, the applied insulating paste was washed out in an acid bath, which was the most hazardous part of the process. This entire technique is called resist block printing, a skill the Kluge family had brought with them from Germany.

The above-mentioned machine was able to speed up the printing by quickly covering both sides of the material with small stamps.

This enormous Perrotine textile printing machine takes up an entire room. The machine prints patterns from the rollers straight onto both sides of the fabrik.

This enormous Perrotine textile printing machine takes up an entire room. The machine prints patterns from the rollers straight onto both sides of the fabrik.


The Spacious Airing Attic

One more stairway up, you will enter the large airing attic of the Blue-Dye Factory. The entire roof section is set aside for this. In the floor, you can see a trapdoor for the mechanical lift that was used to heave the heavy wet material up to this level.

Look up and see the hundreds of solid round timbers running between the beams. It’s an amazing place, somehow reminiscent of a rigging system above a theatre stage. But here the ‘curtains’ were lengths of cloth airing and drying in preparation for the next steps in becoming the famous Kékfestő fabric.

The attic is extra tall and airy. Here the fabric was hung from round rods on the ceiling to air out and dry. Now only four lengths of indigo-dyed blue & white cloth are hung here - more for decoration.

The attic is extra tall and airy. Here the fabric was hung from round rods on the ceiling to air out and dry. Now only four lengths of indigo-dyed blue & white cloth are hung here – more for decoration.

This covers all the work processes one can see in this middle building. The other rooms are taken up by bits and pieces in showcases, documenting the history of the Kluge Blue-Dye Factory in Pápa. We guess that previously, these rooms may have been used for the hand printing of the cloth. So follow us to the second production building on the narrow plot of land.

You have to cross a small bridge over a former creek to reach the last building. In the old days, this creek supplied the water needed for the blue-dye process. (I don’t want to think what their effluent might have looked like; speaking of blue, blue water.)


The Steam Engine House and Finishing Building

The building at the back of the block was where most of the finishing of the dyed fabric happened. It’s cramped with various large-scale machines. Two, with many shiny copper rolls, were used to calender the long runs of blue fabric [this Wikipedia article explains the process of calendering]. In the middle of the far left room stands an oversized spin-dryer.

At the front of the room on the right is the factory’s old boiler, which was powering the steam engine that was running the entire complex. In those days, machines were belt-driven, and the wheels to move the belts were mounted on long axle shafts, which were all turned by the power of the steam engine. There must have been a hell of a noise, on top of all the heat, steam and moisture from washing, dyeing and hot calendering of the fabric.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.


Conclusion: should you visit the Blue-Dye Museum?

Absolutely! If you are interested in “Industrial Heritage” or the origins of old handicrafts, you’ll love this place. All exhibits are low-key, no flashy video screens or other visual enhancements – it feels just like stepping into a mothballed relic of the past.

The only real visual treasures are in the front rooms right behind the reception area. Here you will see some mannequins in preserved historic blue-dye clothes, and some historic photographs and documents.

A good number of small tables, almost decorated like market stalls, showcase the finished goods of Hungarian Blue-Dye Manufacturers that are still producing to this day. Some of the displayed items would make unique souvenirs, with which you can help to keep a slowly disappearing craft alive… These are 100% authentic indigo fabrics, not cheap imported copies.



The Blue-Dye Museum [The Museum’s Website in Hungarian, German, English] isn’t the only reason to visit Pápa [Wikipedia on Papa]. The small town has a pleasant historic Baroque-style centre, which is bordered on one side by the impressive Esterhazy Castle. This influential family has left their marks all over Hungary, Austria and Germany; we had come to Pápa from Győr, a lovely city with a smaller Esterhazy Palace in its centre. Read our post “Hungary Road Trip to see these Remarkable Places” for more treasures we discovered in Hungary.

This is another attraction of Pápa: the Esterhazy Castle - one of many belonging to this influential Hungarian family. The second side wing is hidden behind some large trees. You can visit the castle on a guided tour.

This is another attraction of Pápa: the Esterhazy Castle – one of many belonging to this influential Hungarian family. The second side wing is hidden behind some large trees. You can visit the castle on a guided tour.


DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Hungary
Our guidebook recommendation for people who are looking for valuable information about Hungary: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Hungary !
This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this guidebook on Amazon.

 

Please share this post on Pinterest to show your friends or to remember for later:

Our Pinterest image: a background of patterned indigo fabric with a photo from the blue-dye museum inserted and the title text.
Our Pinterest image: a photo from the blue-dye museum with title overlay. The photo shows fabric hanging in the drying attic.
Our Pinterest image: a background of patterned indigo fabric with a photo from the blue-dye museum inserted and the title text.
Our Pinterest image: a photo from the blue-dye museum with title overlay. The photo shows the copper rolls of a machine.

Our Pinterest image: a photo from the blue-dye museum with title overlay. The photo shows manequins in traditional indigo-dyed clothes.

Our Pinterest image: a photo from the blue-dye museum with title overlay. The photo shows some of the textile art in the drying attic.

 

Juergen

webmaster, main photographer & driver, second cook and only husband at dare2go.com. Freelance web designer with 20+ years of experience at webbeetle.com.au

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2 Responses

  1. Cindy Ann Carlsson says:

    I didn’t know anything about these blue dye textiles, but as a textile fanatic, it sounds like a place I need to go!

    • Juergen says:

      I only knew them from old photographs, as they were also fairly popular in southern Germany. I learned about the labour-intensive production process at this museum.

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