Lehenmatten (Km 2.4)

The fiefs, i.e. the mills in the St. Alban Valley, also included meadows and pastureland, referred to as “Lehen-matten” [feudal lands]. The meadows were irrigated with water that was diverted from the St. Albanteich by means of Teuchel [wooden water pipes]. The only significant change to the course of the Teich in the Lehen-matten was made between St. Jakob and the Rhine in 1855. The Teich was straightened and shortened for the De Bary & Co. silk ribbon factory in the area of today’s Redingstrasse. This created a steeper gradient and in-creased the power of the turbines (used here for the first time on the Teich).
The company did not survive the decline of the silk ribbon industry that began in the 1920s, and was demolished in 1960.