Background
Altmann was the son of Karoline Keile (Tischler) and Karl Chaskel Altmann.
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Bernhard Altmann
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Career
His family was Jewish. He entered the textile trade in Vienna in 1915, and in 1919 founded his knitwear manufacturing business. His company grew to employ 1000 people by 1938 before the German Anschluss forced him to flee to London.
After Liverpool he immigrated to the United States, where he started a company in Fall River, Massachusetts.
After two years he lost control of his assets. In 1941 Altmann moved to New York, where he took a job at $50 a week.
The cashmere business started in North America in 1947 when Altmann added the cashmere fiber line. He subsequently opened a factory in Texas.
By 1951 it was reported that one in every three cashmere sweaters sold in America came from Altmann"s Texas mill.
Altmann also produced clothes in Shetland wool, vicuna and a lambswool/fur fibre blend called "Bernamere". A 1960s advertising tagline for the company ran: "The Legend of a Great Knitter.".
