aabe 1930
the abee factory in the dutch city of tilburg was build for manufacturing wool products. it has a long internal street that gives way to the entire complex, most of them shed-covered manufacturing halls. as a fine example of industrial heritage it was designated a national monument in 1999.
the blankets from aabe, widely know in the netherlands, were sold in many countries around the world. at it’s peak in the early 60′s the factory provided jobs for over 1200 people. with the rise in popularity of duvets, blankets became less popular. and the expansion of the european economic union let to a shift of manufacturing to countries with cheaper labour than the netherlands. in 1996 aabe filed for bankruptcy, the factory became abandoned.
the photo’s show the situation just a few years after it’s abandonment.
recently the factory has been redesigned to a retail market.
