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World War I erupted in 1914, and Adolf Helmbold was called to active duty in the army between 1916 and 1918 causing the mohair production to come to a standstill in those years. The production was again started after the war,  and in 1923 A. Helmbold Company acquired their own dye and finishing company with the thought in mind of increasing their flexibility and  independence. The founder, Adolf Helmbold, was not a dyer by trade, but within a short period of time he managed to coordinate the weaving and finishing businesses, and the production was increased many fold. At the same time the quality of A. Helmbold’s products were making rapid advances.

    During this period many different fabrics were manufactured. From shoeplush to cotton-velveteen to tipped mohair plush...altogether some 50 to 60 different qualities in plush alone mostly in mohair, wool and cotton.  The company’s marketing efforts were increased and a worldwide marketing network was established, which resulted in Helmbold fabrics being represented and sold throughout the world. Colored plush was exported to Africa and Persian lamb imitations shipped to Canada! During those years exports reached 70 to 80% of total production. At the beginning of the thirties the popularity of Mohair declined, and the Helmbold Company was one of the first to introduce artificial silk plush for the toy industry. The price difference between mohair and artificial silk plush was small in those days!

    In 1938 the founder, Adolf Helmbold, died and left all his assets to his two sons, Ludwig Helmbold, a textile technician and the company’s sales manager, and Karl Helmbold, who was educated as a dyer. The two sons managed  the company, A. Helmbold KG, through the troubled war years.

    After World War II production of Mohair was restarted once again. Artificial silk plush had been an important part of the production in the thirties, and the production of these fabrics was also recommenced after the war. In 1948 Karl Helmbold died, and the management of the company was left with Ludwig Helmbold. Managing the company was difficult under the former German Democratic Republic and the company suffered. At the end of the fifties, the importation of mohair yarns was limited by the government and stopped altogether by the end of the sixties.  The still private company, A. Helmbold KG, had to survive by manufacturing artificial silk plush and tipped synthetics for the toy and case-lining industries.
 
    This private venture ended on April 15, 1972 when the company was seized by the former German Democratic Republic. The once proud A. Helmbold KG company became government property thus ending 72 years of family entrepreneurship. In the following years production was managed by government decree, special weaving and finishing machinery were tossed away and many years of accumulated knowledge of the employees was ignored. Ludwig Helmbold died in 1985 as a frustrated man due to the oppression of the government for two generations and the decline of the company under socialism.

    In 1990, after the reunification of Germany, the unthinkable became thinkable....the impossible became possible. A restart and continuation of the weaving traditions in Oberweid! In the spring of 1990, the daughter of Ludwig Helmbold, engineer Edeltraud Neubert, and her husband, engineer Manfred Neubert, petitioned the German government to get back the property, which had been in their family for so many years.
 Since January 1991 the new company, A. Helmbold GmbH, has been managed by Mrs. Edeltraud Neubert with the help and support of her two sons, Stefan and Burkhard Neubert, both of whom are textile engineers. The present manufacturing program encompasses several plush fabrics made with natural fibers...like Mohair, Cotton, Wool and Alpaca for the toy industry, and viscose-silk plush for the case-lining industry.