Spruced-up workers’ houses - Lorzenweid factory site
Overview
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Intro
The Lorzenweid industrial ensemble stands by the River Lorze near Cham. As a complete factory estate dating from the late-nineteenth-century “Gründerzeit” – with factory building, workers' housing, owner's villa and preserved hydrotechnical equipment – it is an important witness to the industrialisation of Canton Zug.
The Lorzenweid spinning mill was established in 1862 on the lower section of the River Lorze. During the American Civil War, the business particularly benefited from overseas exports. The factory owners soon embarked on building the first lodging houses for their workers on the narrow island between the factory canal and the original course of the River Lorze. In 1888, a fire destroyed the monumental spinning mill, costing some 360 workers their employment. The new factory building erected after the fire was smaller. It is topped by a three-part sawtooth roof and features tall segmental-arch windows. A small turbine house on the canal is still in use and powers Cham's paper mill to this day. The factory owner's villa stands prominently on a mound at some distance from the site.
Today, the factory ensemble is one of the foremost witnesses of the first phase of industrialisation in Canton Zug, with the workers' lodging houses as the best-preserved elements of the original complex. The regularly fenestrated, two-storey gable-roof buildings stand in a uniform row beside the factory canal. Having long stood vacant, they were refurbished in 2015 in compliance with stringent planning regulations.
Trip tip
A one-hour hiking trail leads from Hagendorn along the River Lorze through the former factory site to Cham. A visit to the unique stalactite caves in the Lorzentobel gorge near Baar provides a different experience of the power of the River Lorze.
ISOS
ISOS is the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance. The inventory is maintained by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and lists the most significant settlements in Switzerland. Today, some 1,200 places are included in the inventory, from hamlets right through to cities. The inventory provides information on the development and identity of the settlements listed in it, thereby contributing to the preservation of architectural diversity in Switzerland and promoting both sustainable planning and a high-quality Baukultur.
