Located directly on the little river Anger and embedded in an old English landscape park is one of the oldest preserved industrial complexes in Germany: the cotton spinning mill Cromford in Ratingen. Established in 1783/84 by the merchant and entrepreneur Johann Gottfried Brügelmann from Wuppertal, it is now regarded as the first fully mechanised cotton spinning mill on the continent of Europe. The early industrial complex dating from the late 18th century is almost completely preserved. The five-storey “Hohe Fabrik” (High Mill) and the late baroque Cromford mansion – today both buildings belonging to the LVR-Industriemuseum – the “Alte Fabrik”, (Old Mill) , the plain living quarters of the workers, the office and the wheelhouse which once housed the waterwheel.
