History of the Handmade Paper Mill Velke Losiny
Velké Losiny is located north of the city of Sumperk in the valley of the river Desná. It is one of the most frequently visited sites of the area at the foot of the Jeseník Mountains. It is noted not only for its rich and interesting history and the century-old tradition as a spa resort but also for many valuable cultural monuments. The Velké Losiny paper mill is rightfully one of them. It was established there in the demesne of the Moravian family of Žerotín late in the 16th century.
Jan Junior of Zerotín had the paper manufactory built at the site of a former flour mill. According to historical sources, the paper mill started working as one of the industries under the developing manorial management system somewhere between 1591–1596. The earliest evidence testifying to the existence of the paper mill is the oldest known watermark from the year 1596. The watermark has the form of the Zerotín arms – a lion with a crown on his head, standing on three hills. From its establishment until the second half of the 18th century, the paper mill remained closely associated with the fate of the Velké Losiny dominium and its Žerotín holders.
Over centuries, the paper mill has been held by a number of papermaker families and master papermakers. It was already in 1603 that Jan Junior of Zerotín transferred the operation of the paper mill on emphytheusis to the first known paper master, Ondrej Kluge. Paper products, particularly writing papers, scratch papers and cardboard, were supplied to customers in the vicinity of the paper mill over the entire 17th and 18th centuries. Some of the paper masters were not very successful at Velké Losiny. The history of the paper mill was also affected by the infamous witch processes that took place in this area under inquisition’s control in the last quarter of the 17th century: the wife of the Velké Losiny master papermaker, Barbora Göttlicher, was one of the first victims of those processes in 1680.
In 1729, the lords of the manor brought to the paper mill a landmark invention, a Hollander beater for preparing paper pulp, which was probably the first equipment of this kind in Moravia. In spite of the Žerotín owners’ effort to modernise the manufacturing processes, the master papermakers as leaseholders were unable to compete successfully with other producers in the region, particularly with the Šumperk paper mill. This was perhaps one of the reasons why Count Jan Ludvík of Zerotín sold the factory in 1778 to master papermaker Matyas Werner Junior, who brought the paper mill to prosperity again. It was in that period (the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries) that the buildings of the handmade paper manufactory got its present late Baroque and Classicist appearance.
Expansion of industrial paper production in the mid 19th century led to a severe crisis in the production and marketing of handmade paper in Europe. Most of the hand paper mills were closed down in a short span of time. The Velké Losiny paper mill survived thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of Anton Schmidt Senior who bought the manufactory in 1855. At that time the factory had a bleachery and produced textiles and paper; in addition, a hydro electric power plant was put in operation there in 1913. The discovery of the excellent filtering properties of handmade paper, and (later on) artists’ return to using handmade paper, helped the traditional papermaking trade survive the worst period and continue in its original form until the present.
In 1949 the Velké Losiny Paper Mill became part of the Olsanské papirny National Enterprise, which is now a joint-stock company, making paper in several industrial paper mills in the Sumperk area.
The Velké Losiny Paper Mill is today one the of the oldest manufactories of its kind in Europe. Handmade paper is still made there by the traditional process from cotton and flax. Thanks to its high quality and century-long durability it is mainly used by artists, by firms for their important correspondence, for representation purposes, for printing bibliophilies, and also in bookmaking and restoration practice. Handmade papers and the current exclusive product range from these papers have won a standing position and permanent popularity among those who love traditional Czech handmade products. Since the 1970s, the entire premises have undergone several stages of costly repairs and refurbishments, which continue until the present time. The unique premises of this important technical monument with a history of more than four centuries of continuous traditional production of handmade paper have no match in Central Europe. It was declared National Cultural Monument by the Czech government in 2002.