Alsfeld got hats!Rockel hat factory is founded

Actually, the 1920s were unsuitable for founding a company in every respect. The fact that the Rockel hat factory nevertheless became a success story is due – in addition to the fashion trend of hat-wearing – to great entrepreneurial drive.

The first attempts to establish hat manufacturing operations in Alsfeld can be traced back to the Jewish merchant Alber Stein. Born in Alsfeld in 1884 and living at the corner of Fuldergasse and Wallgasse since 1920, he submitted a building application in January 1925 to establish a hat stump manufacturing plant. Immediately afterwards, contact must have been made with Heinrich Rockel, because the joint foundation of the Rockel hat factory took place as early as April 15, 1925. In 1930, Albert Stein left the company again as a partner.

Heinrich Rockel, born in Blitzenrod in 1901, had learned the trade at the nearby Wegener hat factory in Lauterbach. With his characteristic drive, he now expanded his company in Alsfeld into the largest hat factory in Europe. But at the end of the 1960s, the fashion trend changed. As hats were worn less and less often, the decline was preordained. After shrinking for several decades, insolvency had to be declared in May 2001. NH