Industry I
Today, industry is the mainstay of the Bavarian economy. No one
sector prevails, although the electrical, automotive, mechanical
engineering, chemicals and plastic industries are all especially
important. The economy is striking for its large number of
medium-sized companies, none of which has more than 500 employees.
These contrast with a few very large firms such as Siemens, BMW,
MAN, or Wacker Chemicals.
Industrialisation began with the textile industry in Swabia. The
mechanical cotton-spinning and weaving factory in Augsburg, founded
in 1837, made the Bavarian cotton industry highly competitive.
Parallel to this, steam-operated mechanical looms made
factory-produced cloth for the first time. Bavaria continues to play
an important role in textile production today, and is considered
Germany's number one fashion state.
Manufacturing used to play an important role alongside crafts and
industry; here, mass-produced goods could be made by hand.
Augsburg's calico factories, for instance, employed draughtsmen,
colourists, tailors, printers and many others in their production of
the calico that was famed throughout Europe.
Heavy industry settled in the Upper Palatinate in the mid-19th
century when the Maximilianshütte ironworks successfully
re-established the region's traditional iron-ore processing.