It was here that velvets were first made about 1756, by Jeremiah Clarke, and muslins and cotton quiltings in 1763.
Its manufactures include silks, velvets, carpets, calico-printing, machinery and brickmaking.
Viersen is one of the chief seats in the lower Rhine country for the manufacture of velvets, silks (especially umbrella covers) and plush.
The duties on wool were raised, corresponding changes made on woollen goods, the duties on cottons, linens, some silks, and velvets considerably raised.
Italy, the early home of the silk trade in Europe, the land of the gorgeous velvets of Genoa and the damasks and brocades of medieval Sicily, Venice and Florence, now takes only a sixth place, the centre of greatest activity being at Como; but Genoa still makes velvets, and the brocades of Venice are not a thing of the past.