In the 1880s, the Limbach region experienced an unprecedented economic boom driven by the production of fabric gloves. During this period of prosperity, manufacturer Emil Götze began constructing his factory complex at Karlstraße 10 in Oberfrohna in 1887.
Directly on the neighboring property at Karlstraße 8, his brother Carl Götze had already established his own glove factory several years earlier. The close proximity of the two brothers’ factories made the section of the street near the Luther Church the industrial center of the town.
After the First World War, the Saxon textile industry fell into a severe crisis due to the loss of important export markets in England and the United States. As part of these economic changes, Emil Götze’s factory changed ownership and was taken over by the Firma Erhard Kunze. Under its new ownership, the production of fabric gloves and textile goods continued successfully for several decades.
After the Second World War, the building shared the fate of almost all East German textile factories. The factory lost its private independence, was nationalized, and integrated into the socialist planned economy. Production continued intensively on the premises until the later years of the GDR, serving both domestic demand and exports to Eastern Europe. Following the German reunification in 1990, the factory wasn’t profitable anymore. Production was permanently discontinued, and the building has stood empty ever since.
