Des employés des usines Teisserenc au travail. Le secteur textile, dans lequel a longtemps brillé l’entreprise, a durant des siècles assuré la prospérité de Lodève et de ses environs. DR
Cette catastrophe avait touché l’entreprise Teisserenc et bouleversé l’équilibre économique de la ville.
As the year 2024 draws to a close, there is still time to commemorate a dramatic event that had a major impact on the history of Lodève. It concerns a former emblematic company of the city, the Teisserenc company. Like many other companies in the surrounding area, it specialized in textiles, a key sector of industry in the Lodévois region. Throughout the 19th century, Teisserenc developed its business, notably by building a large factory in 1840 on the right bank of the Lergue, next to the bridge of the same name and Avenue Montalangue.
Destroyed homes
But on the night of April 29-30, 1899, the people of Lodévois were abruptly awakened from their sleep: a fire ravaged the Teisserenc premises! The regional press widely echoed the tragedy by reporting the events, as in L’Éclair of May 1, 1899: “It was around midnight that the alarm was raised, and help was immediately organized […] But given the intensity of this vast blaze, it was quickly recognized that it was impossible to save the workshop. All efforts were concentrated on preserving the many neighboring houses.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000As the night went on, the situation worsened, as the journalist described in detail: “Around 3:30 a.m., the huge wall of the factory along the Boulevard de la Gare partially collapsed and crushed the three or four neighboring houses forming the corner of Rue des Côtes. A terrible cry rose from the crowd, everyone wondering if there were no victims under the rubble.”
Hundreds of employees unemployed
It was only in the early morning that the fire was brought under control by the emergency services, aided by the welcome appearance of rain. While everyone is happy that there are no human victims, the material toll is very heavy: the Teisserenc factory is reduced to ashes, as well as several neighboring houses. These are not covered by insurance, and a public subscription is immediately launched. The other concern concerns the hundreds of employees of the company: at a time when unemployment insurance is almost non-existent, it is the entire economic balance of a city that threatens to be impacted.
Faced with the anguish, the leader Paul Teiressenc published a letter in the press a few days later: “I would cease to be worthy of the sympathy of my fellow citizens if I abandoned the work begun in 1641 by Jacques Teiressenc. It will not be so and I declare to you that nothing will be neglected to shorten a painful unemployment, which the sad industrial situation of our dear city makes even more painful.” The letter is read to cheers during a large public meeting organized to deal with the situation.
The entire city mobilized to help the victims
A relief committee is formed, headed by all the civil and moral authorities of the city; the sub-prefect, the mayor, the colonel commanding the 142nd infantry regiment and even the archpriest of Saint-Fulcran! Finally, the Teisserenc company managed to overcome the disaster, by building new factories and continuing to contribute to the prosperity of Lodève, until its doors finally closed in the 1960s. To perpetuate the memory of this industrial adventure, the Teisserenc family decided in 2018 to entrust all of its documentation to the departmental archives of Hérault, in order to allow researchers to trace the economic history of Lodévois.