And how? By horsepower: in 1840/41, Franz Joseph Müller travelled throughout the German Customs Union area with wallpaper samples from Erismann & Cie. – in a horse-drawn carriage.
A "pit stop" where commercial travellers and young businessmen such as Franz Joseph Müller could take a break now and again.
To start with, every wallpaper pattern was unique, because it was hand-painted. From this, the skilled workman made reproducible patterns by hand "à la planche", with a wooden model. He would print the strips of paper - also leather or fabric - piece by piece using the wooden template.
Total dedication at the hand printing machine in around 1848: Adjust the template, bring it down, repeat.
The Rhine Gate is not big enough any more. Under the guidance of Franz Joseph Müller, the hand printing factory is built in what is to become Richard-Müller-Strasse in Breisach.
The new building provides the right conditions for an epoch when wallpaper manufacturing was becoming increasingly mechanised.
Machines are moving in everywhere. Even the production of wallpapers, which had been carried out by craftsmen not bound to guilds for around 150 years, is becoming increasingly mechanised. New markets are opening up. In Breisach, Franz Joseph Müller has recognised the new opportunities at an early stage.
The first machine based on a Parisian design is installed in 1862.
Wallpapers are fashion products. And fashion moves with the spirit of the times. At the end of the 19th century, developments were based in Europe - as with clothes too - on French models: the houses of the bourgeoisie in Paris and Strasbourg. Adolf and Hermann Müller were responsible for successfully embodying the spirit of the times at Erismann from 1878 onward.
They installed state-of-the-art technology. And the wallpapers became more and more colourful – with the first eight-colour printing machine in 1889. Emil Müller, the architect, also contributed to the overall success of the firm, by building the new printing hall for the company in 1897. The wallpaper business was flourishing.
Were the Müller brothers familiar with the marketing philosophy of their contemporary, Henry Ford? In any case, they were among the first at the end of the 19th century to take out advertisements in the trade press in order to draw attention to their products.
Following the advertising fashion of the day, there were no illustrations, but the fonts were as varied as possible. The Erismann wallpaper factory was one of the first firms to advertise in the first issue of 'Tapetenzeitung' (Wallpaper Journal) in 1897.
During the Second World War, production was suspended. The wallpaper factory itself had withstood all attacks. But in the turmoil of the first weeks after the War, it was completely destroyed by fire on 18 July 1945. The factory was in ruins.
Now the process started that had started a thousand times over around this time in Germany: clearing, renovating, building ... and not despairing.
At the beginning of the 1970s, Erismann introduces flexographic and rotogravure printing.
From 1985, with the introduction of relief or blown vinyl wall coverings, Erismann is able to offer a new product which is enthusiastically welcomed by all
