Aachen

Aachen is cited as an example of a western German city where powerful guilds blocked the adoption of spinning and weaving machines. The book uses this local resistance to show how institutions that regulated economic activity could obstruct technological change and, more broadly, the spread of inclusive institutions across Europe.

Guilds and Technological Change

In Aachen, as in Cologne, guilds regulating urban economic activity were strong enough to prevent textile machinery from being adopted. The example appears in a discussion of regions where guilds were generally more powerful than in France and could restrict innovation in the production of textiles.

Place in the Argument

Aachen’s role is comparative rather than biographical: it helps illustrate the barriers that economic institutions could place before new technologies. The book sets this resistance against the changes brought by the French Revolution and Napoleon, whose rule in other parts of Europe abolished guilds and feudal relations and imposed equality before the law. In that account, dismantling institutional barriers helped prepare parts of Europe for more inclusive institutions and economic growth.