Machine from Krasnoe Znamya factory (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Sock-knitting factory of Vasiliy Petrovich Kersten, founded in 1855.
The largest textile empire in Russia was founded in 1866 by the German Friedrich-Wilhelm Kersten. After obtaining Russian citizenship and adopting Orthodoxy he changed his name to Vasiliy Petrovich Kersten. His first knitting workshop producing men's socks, gloves and cotton stockings was located at Ligovskiy prospekt no. 32 in St. Petersburg.
In 1917 the number of workers had reached the record of 2700.
In 1922 the name of the establishment was changed to Krasnoe Znamya (red banner combine).
In 1954 the number of workers had reached 10000.
Following Perestroyka the factory did not survive for long and closed down in the late 90s.