NARVA, Estonia. When the German Balts turned to its old adversaries, the Russians, to fight the Swedes, Peter the Great obliged. In 1700, 35000 Russian soldiers set out for the  Swedish garrison at Narva. Charles XII, aged 19, came to its relief with 8000 men and, in a snowstorm, decimated the Russians capturing every artillery piece. Rejecting advisers' calls to press on to Moscow he moved to other fronts. Peter entrusted a second attack on Narva in 1704 to a Scot, Ogilvie. He overwhelmed the garrison, decided no prisoners would be taken and began an indiscriminate slaughter so when Peter arrived, it is said he stopped the massacre by slaying his own attackers with his sword. It was not pure humanity, he wanted Swedish prisoners for building work. The Peace negotiations of Nystad in 1721 gave the Swedish possessions in the Baltic, including Estonia, to Russia and the German merchants carried on as before. Shipments of flax are made from the port of Narva as No. V. and No. VI.

Narva has the only identifiable Quartered Crossed Shield with one pellet in each of the top quarters. These pellets can be tiny hollow rings (o) called annulets. The other numerous combinations of up to nine pellets in each quarter are still not sufficiently known to be identified.

    Alexander Stieglitz (1814-1884) was a court banker who succeeded his father, chairman of the St. Petersburg Exchange Committee, first manager of the State Bank, and a member of the Manufacturing Council of the Department of Manufacturers.. In Narva, he owned two textile factories, built a cottage and a church in his estate.  One of the two businesses he owned in Narva was the Cloth Factory.

NARVA CLOTH MANUFACTURE, THE CLOTH FACTORY,  BARON A.L.STIEGLITZ: close to Narva City

  The partnership of the Narva cloth factory of the former cloth factory of Baron A.L.Stieglitz Board and manufacture: near Narva, Yamburg County, St. Petersburg province. Wholesale warehouses were also in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Bialystok, Warsaw with an address for telegrams at the Cloth Factory - Narva.

   In Russia, since the 17th century, cloth fine dressing was required in large quantities, when Peter I began to create a Russian army of a new type, the entire officer corps of which was dressed in uniforms made of such cloth, and in the future the fabric was required for the army in huge Quantities. So the choice of barons Stieglitz, father and son, to participate in the organization of a large cloth production in the composition of the founders or independently, given their high position, strong and close ties with the Russian government, seems quite it is natural, and this exceptional situation gave their textile enterprises access to permanent large state orders.  In 1802 clothing was introduced not only for infantry, but also for garrison service in bad weather and winter soldiers' coats of coarse cloth.  The company attended exhibitions in 1865, 1870, 1882, 1896 which resulted in it being granted the right to depict the State Coat of Arms. Such a right in Tsarist Russia was the highest recognition a sign of certification and quality.

  First Granted in 1865 it was subsequently repeatedly confirmed. and by the end of the 19th century, production expanded becoming large and profitable and by 1899, annual production increased from 275,000 to over 2 million rubles per year.  At that time, the factory had:
1. A hospital with 50 permanent beds and pharmacy.
2. A Barracks for 100 beds together with the neighbouring Narva Flax manufacture
3. The hospital and the barracks consisted of a doctor, a paramedic and a necessary servant.
4. People's school in two departments for 120 pupils. At school there are two teachers, a law teacher, a  singing teacher and a library.  The School of the Partnership of The Cloth Factory for children of both sexes was opened in 1861 with a library for children and adults. Penalties for truaniment classes were used to replenish libraries.
5. Two singing societies: Russian and Estonian
6. A Fire brigade of workers and employees at the factory.

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   Attempts to use the water energy of the Narov waterfalls for practical purposes had been made for a long time. This idea was repeatedly expressed by statesmen during the 17th and 18th centuries, among them were the Swedish King Gustav-Adolf and the Russian Emperor Peter I. Since the mid-17th century, sawmills were being built near the waterfalls, with small businesses of the copper, leather trade. The engraving by Gabriel Bodenehr in 1720 is the Big and Small Falls and Krenholm Island.

   At the beginning of the 19th century there were larger productions - textile factories. Thus, around 1820, Narva merchant Paul Momma founded a cloth factory on the right, the Yamburg bank of Narova, which worked at first with 100, and later up to 400 people. The number of different productions on Narov began to increase especially rapidly after the publication of a government decree of March 28, 1830, which provided great benefits to those "who will now run significant factories or factories at Narva Falls where the water is active." A double-terraced waterfall is located on the Narva River, just above the city. Kreenholm Island is located between the two terraces. The famous Kreenholm Textile Factory was built on the shore of the waterfall in the 19th century, and was the largest factory in the Russian Empire at that time. In 1913 over ten thousand people worked there! A compact complex of industrial architecture developed around the factory that included the factory, a hospital, workers' barracks, directors' houses, and Kreenholm Park. The buildings were built in the English style using red brick. The Kreenholm brand is known far beyond Estonia.

  Undoubtedly, a major role in the development of local industry was played by the fact that Narva has long formed an important hub of trade routes. In addition, the city was only 140 miles from the capital, which eventually became one of the main markets. That is why many St. Petersburg industrialists invested in the creation of enterprises on Narov. Sixteen years later, in 1836, Paul Momma sold his factory to a joint partnership called Narva Manufacturing Company, established by Narva merchant Kramer along with several other Narva merchants. In addition, Kramer owned the land on which the factory stood.

Narva Bridge

Narva Bridge

Ivangorod Fortress

Panorama