The Hohenstein Research Institute is founded by Prof. Otto Mecheels.

Foundation of the Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt Bekleidungstechnik [Education and Research Institute for Clothing Technology]. 16 students are taught here in the first semester.

The first class graduates from the newly founded Education and Research Institute for Clothing Technology at Hohenstein.

Prof. Otto Mecheels buys the castle, which has now become public property. The Hohenstein Technical Academy is founded.

Prof. Otto Mecheels buys the castle, which has now become public property. The Hohenstein Technical Academy is founded.

Hohenstein founds the German Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and awards the RAL quality label 992-1 for commercial linen.

The predecessor to the current skin model to measure the heat and moisture transport capacity of textiles is developed by Prof. Jürgen Mecheels, son of the founder of the Institutes.

Jürgen Mecheels, the son of Prof. Otto Mecheels, enters the company and, in his doctorate, establishes the field of quantitative clothing physiology.

The Hohenstein Institute for Clothing is founded as a member of the German Federation of Cooperative Research Associations, sponsored by public organisations.

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mecheels is the second generation to take over leadership of the Hohenstein Institute. Within the newly built Technical Academy, a climatic chamber for wear tests is available for the first time.

"Charlie", the articulated dummy, a human thermoregulation model developed at the Hohenstein Institutes, complements the measurements of clothing physiological parameters carried out on the skin model to determine objective wear comfort.

The German Certification Association for Professional Textile Services relocates from Bad Homburg to Schloss Hohenstein.

The feather testing centre was founded.

This first skin model, presented by Prof. Jürgen Mecheels, becomes the starting point for further developments which will eventually lead to the standardization of the Hohenstein model.

On 3 June, Prof. Otto Mecheels dies at the age of almost 85 following a brief illness.

The prototype of the computer-aided compression measuring device, HOSY, developed at the Hohenstein Institute, goes into operation.

The RAL quality label RAL-GZ 992-2 for hospital linen is introduced.

On 30 July, Dr. Jürgen Mecheels is appointed professor by the prime minister of Baden-Württemberg, Dr. Lothar Späth.

The Hohenstein Institutes is a founder member of the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile Ecology, which awards the label “Confidence in Textiles – Tested for Harmful Substances”.

Prof. Jürgen Mecheels receives the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) and retires from the management of the Hohenstein Institutes. His son, Dr. Stefan Mecheels, is the third generation to take over directorship of the company.

As the final class of clothing technicians graduate, the Hohenstein Technical Academy ceases its regular education programme. A broad range of practical seminars and advanced training events continue to be offered, however. The first overseas office of the Hohenstein Institutes is founded in Turkey.

The UV-Standard 801 is established and the first German certificate is awarded. The RAL quality label RAL-GZ 992-3 for Linen from food processing businesses is introduced.

The Competence Centre for Textiles and the Skin is founded at the first conference on Textiles and the Human Skin in Apolda.

The Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology (IHB) becomes an independent department.

The Hohenstein Institute brought its expertise to China and set up headquarters in Shanghai named Hohenstein Textile Testing (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Through increased focus on the “Hohenstein” brand and by re-designing the company logo accordingly, the Hohenstein Institutes emphasise their successful transformation from a German research and testing institute to a global provider of highly-specialised services with respect to textile-related issues.

Hohenstein set up the first laboratory in Hong Kong which is currently the only laboratory in Asia. We maintain a state - of - the - art laboratory, aligned and designed by our Made in Germany Hohenstein quality standard.

Under the leadership of its third-generation leader, Professor Stefan Mecheels, the Hohenstein institute has branch offices abroad in 43 countries with more than 1,000 employees. And set up laboratories in German, Hongkong, Hungary and so on. You can find our office in Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Qingdao.