History
Bleaching privilege
The privilege was issued in Dresden on 14 December 1357; in it, the margraves "granted the humble luten Nykel Manhoubte muentzmeister zcu Friberg, Nykele Schultheissin zcu der Myteweide, Mathis Maltzmeister burger zcu Kempnitz and Hentzel Randecken burger zcu Friberg to our dear trustees and their heirs, .... that they should and must have a pale and that they should not have any more pale than they would have had by ten miles in our lands".
In addition, the export of flax, yarn and unbleached linen from the Meissen region was prohibited. For the Margraviate of Meissen, a bleaching plant was set up on a meadow of around three to four hectares on the Chemnitz River north of the city, which offered the conditions for taking a central position in the system of textile production and trade.
The linen sheets were laid out on the fenced-in lawns - around 1400 up to 130,000 square metres a year; waterers poured water onto the linen sheets from a specially constructed ditch system. As the bleaching process itself was dependent on the weather, it could sometimes be quite lengthy.
After the process was completed, ironers were responsible for smoothing the fabrics. The bleaching master organised the production and commercial processes. A bleaching judge represented the sovereign's claims. Despite numerous attempts, the sovereigns were unable to eliminate smaller and larger corner and rival bleaching works, the most important of which probably existed in Rochlitz and Penig, as these usually worked better and under more favourable conditions for the small master weavers.