In 1797, Johann Nicolaus Müller opened a dye-works and a textile business which used the Indian indigo plant in the dying process for the first time. This was located next to the Weberbach stream in Trier, which back then still flowed openly within the city. The founder’s sons expanded the business into a woollen yarn spinning mill and also into a weaving mill. The resulting Trier Textile Factory specialised in the manufacturing of loden and of buxkin materials for uniforms. However because of the falling demand for heavy materials after the First World War and the economic crisis, the textile business became less relevant and the textile factory was given up in 1927.
Many years later, in 1983, several individual artists as well as ensembles from the liberal cultural scene in Trier, who had neither rehearsal space nor exhibition or performance halls, came together to form a cultural workshop association. Their shared goal was to set up a cultural centre. As part of the preparations for Trier´s 2000th year celebrations in 1984, the ailing buildings of the former textile factory, which were at the time under the ownership of the city, came into focus and which following extensive renovation will shortly host two large anniversary exhibitions as well as serve as a cultural centre.
Since its founding in 1985 the diverse offerings of the Tufa, which are aimed at all social classes and age groups, record around 70,000 visitors each year. The governing committee is made up of representatives from 29 individual associations from across the cultural spectrum.
