The success of the St.Gallen embroidery industry was rooted in its technological advantage. The industrialisation of production was made possible through ongoing technological developments: it was the satin stitch loom, the hand stitch loom and finally shuttle embroidery machines which kept St.Gallen and Eastern Switzerland in the lead – including in textile machine construction.

History:
One of those who hoped to profit from these local strengths was the New York embroidery producer Isaak D. Einstein. In 1884, he opened a branch in St.Gallen in an existing factory building at Berneggstrasse 2, close to the historic centre, which he had converted for use as in the embroidery business by the architect Karl August Hiller. The previous building hat been built by the widow of the textile supplier Jacob Allgäuer, herself a proactive entrepreneur, as a textile finishing site, later used as a mill, and the ground floor housed the city’s public kitchen in the 1880s. A three-story extension to Berneggstrasse 4 was already built in 1886. This was later integrated into the surviving building complex 4-6 in the course of a large expansion in 1907 (architect Jakob Merz). D. Einstein & Co., from 1936 Adolph Hahn & Co., was one of the oldest and most important establishments of St.Gallen’s embroidery industry. More successful years (early 1890s, 1902-08) alternated with economic or fashion-based lulls. The 1930s, during the global economic crisis, were particularly difficult.

Present-day use:
In 1978, the St.Galler textile entrepreneur Max Kriemler bought the buildings and had them converted into the four-star hotel Einstein, opened in 1983 and expanded in 2009 with the “Einstein Congress” on Wassergasse.