Native capital and foreign skill: Werdmüller, Turrettini and the silk houses

The Werdmüller and the waste-silk business

The Locarnese did not build the Zurich silk industry alone. In its early phase the largest investors came from other groups. The decisive capital came from Zurich families who had made their fortunes in milling, grain, timber and wool and who combined it with the skills of Italian immigrants. The most important of them were the brothers David and Heinrich Werdmüller. David Werdmüller (1548–1612) was the son of Beat Werdmüller, a miller and merchant in grain and timber. In 1575 the two brothers founded an enterprise with a capital of 6,000 florins, which at first produced woollen cloth from Spanish raw material.¹

From 1582 the Werdmüller processed silk waste into floss yarn (Florettgarn) in partnership with the merchant Lodovico Ronco. In 1587 David Werdmüller formed a company for silk production with Francesco Turrettini of Lucca. By 1591 the enterprise employed more than 1,000 women in the processing of silk waste. The partnership with Turrettini produced a profit of 38,500 florins before it was dissolved in 1592. David Werdmüller built the Alter Seidenhof in 1592 and the Neuer Seidenhof in 1606, the two great silk houses of the city, whose memory survives in names such as the Seidengasse and the Hotel Seidenhof. When he died in 1612 his estate was valued at 280,000 florins, one of the largest fortunes of the city.²

In figures. In 1575 David and Heinrich Werdmüller started their textile business with a capital of 6,000 florins. By 1591 their silk-waste enterprise employed more than 1,000 women. The partnership with Francesco Turrettini of Lucca yielded 38,500 florins before its dissolution in 1592, and David Werdmüller left an estate of 280,000 florins in 1612.³ Around 1900 the silk enterprises of the Canton of Zurich gave work to up to 50,000 people.⁴ The Zurich silk industry produced 13.79 million metres of fabric in 1855, 27.55 million in 1881 and 47.07 million in 1900.⁵

Francesco Turrettini: a Lucchese exile between Zurich and Geneva

Francesco Turrettini links the history of Zurich with that of Geneva. Born in Lucca on 5 May 1547, he converted to the Reformed faith in 1566 and managed the silk company of the Micheli and Arnolfini before he set up his own business. On 17 October 1575 he left Lucca to avoid arrest by the papal authorities. He joined the Italian Reformed church of Geneva on 19 December 1575, worked with the Lucchese exiles Carlo and Pompeo Diodati and then moved to Antwerp as factor for Italian firms, which he left in 1585 before the arrival of Spanish troops.⁶ He then settled in Zurich, where he worked with David and Heinrich Werdmüller from 1587 to 1592 in the production of woollen fabrics and the processing of silk waste. On 9 July 1587 he married Camilla Burlamacchi, a daughter of Michele Burlamacchi, another Lucchese exile.⁷

In 1592 Turrettini returned permanently to Geneva, where he founded the Grande Boutique, a consortium of silk merchants and financiers that was renewed nine times between 1594 and 1627. Its capital grew from 18,000 to 100,000 scudi. Turrettini was also associated with Carlo Diodati in banking, received Genevan citizenship with his sons Bénédict and Jean in 1627 and died in Geneva on 13 March 1628. His grandson was the theologian Francis Turretin.⁸ The Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz cites his career as the most eloquent example of how the refugees of the first Refuge created the international networks of an export-oriented textile industry.⁹ For Zurich, Turrettini's departure in 1592 meant the loss of a partner whose experience in the Italian silk trade had been essential to the Werdmüller enterprise, while Geneva gained the founder of one of its most successful commercial houses.

Notes

1. Alexis Schwarzenbach, "Werdmüller, David", in Neue Deutsche Biographie 27 (2020), 802–803, https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz85081.html (consulted 4 October 2026). ↩
2. Schwarzenbach, "Werdmüller, David" (above): processing of Seidenabfälle into Florettgarn with Lodovico Ronco from 1582; company with Francesco Turrettini from 1587; more than 1,000 women employed by 1591; profit of 38,500 florins before the separation in 1592; Alter Seidenhof 1592, Neuer Seidenhof 1606; estate of 280,000 florins. SRF, "Historischer Rückblick – Wie Zürich dank Seide Weltruhm erlangte", 12 December 2020, https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/historischer-rueckblick-wie-zuerich-dank-seide-weltruhm-erlangte (consulted 5 October 2026): "In der Stadt Zürich erinnern heute zwar noch Strassen wie die «Seidengasse» oder das «Hotel Seidenhof» an die seidene Vergangenheit". ↩
3. Schwarzenbach, "Werdmüller, David" (above). ↩
4. Kanton Zürich, Regierungsrat, media release "Geschichte der Zürcher Seidenindustrie erforschen", 20 June 2013, https://www.zh.ch/de/news-uebersicht/medienmitteilungen/2013/06/146_seidenindustrie.html (consulted 4 October 2026): "bis zu 50'000 Personen". ↩
5. Liliane Mottu-Weber, "Soierie", in DHS, version of 16 September 2020, https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/013965/ (consulted 4 October 2026). ↩
6. Wikipedia, "Francesco Turrettini", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Turrettini (consulted 4 October 2026). ↩
7. Wikipedia, "Francesco Turrettini" (above); Schwarzenbach, "Werdmüller, David" (above). ↩
8. Wikipedia, "Francesco Turrettini" (above). The Grande Boutique is discussed in the Geneva volume in the context of the Italian refuge in Geneva. ↩
9. Danièle Tosato-Rigo, "Réfugiés protestants", in DHS, version of 12 December 2014, https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/026884/ (consulted 4 October 2026), section "Influence des réfugiés". ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.