History

The Capellades Paper Mill Museum

The Capellades Paper Mill Museum is located in the town of Capellades (60 km from Barcelona, Spain) in an old paper mill that is typical of such buildings in the 18th century, called the "Molí de la Vila" or town mill. The building has a total area of 2,200 m², spread over four floors and a basement.

"La bassa"

Next to the Mill is "La bassa", a natural source of water from which around 12 million litres would flow on a daily basis, used to drive the 16 paper mills known as the "Molins de la Costa" or mills of the coast. Thanks to this abundance of water and its geographical location (close to large towns with good communications between them), Capellades and the surrounding towns of La Pobla de Claramunt, Carme and Sant Pere de Riudebitlles became one of the most important centres for paper production in Spain during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Paper production

The paper from this area, especially its deckled and cigarette paper, was sold to a large part of the Spanish market and the American colonies. As from the late 18th century the surnames of well-known papermakers start to appear, such as Soteras, Romeu and Guarro, and particularly the Serra and Romaní families, whose brands of paper became internationally renowned.

In this rich historical context of paper production, the Capellades Paper Mill Museum was founded in 1958 by a group of paper industrialists who carried out pioneering work in the field now known as industrial archaeology. Thanks to numerous donations of machinery, various objects and financial contributions by different paper companies and publishers in Catalonia and the rest of Spain, the Museum was inaugurated on the 6th of July 1961.

The Paper Mill Museum today

The Museum is currently governed by a board of trustees made up of different bodies: the Town Council de Capellades, the Association of Historical Paper Studies, the County Council of Anoia and the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia. Since it was first set up, the Museum has been envisaged as both a museum and also a paper mill, combining and complementing the dissemination of historical and industrial heritage by continuing the skilled practice of making paper by hand.

The Capellades Paper Mill Museum is not a typical museum, both because it serves as a mill as well as a museum and also because of how it's financially managed, self-financing 60-70% of its operating costs. Our institution therefore represents a clear example of the what Cyril Samard coined "economuseology" in his work entitled Économuséologie, comment rentabiliser une entreprise culturelle; i.e. how a cultural facility can become self-financing by marketing the artisanal product it produces, in addition to the income it receives from visitors.