Farina gegenüber

Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz

Founded	1709
Founder(s)	Johann Baptist Farina
Headquarters	Germany
Key people	Johann Maria Farina managing director
Industry	Perfume industry
Products	Original Eau de Cologne

Farina House

Original Eau de Cologne – The Rosoli bottle is the first to have been produced by Farina House. In the background you can see the instruction leaflet in French. This slim, long, green bottle had to be stored in a horizontal position because it was corked. Until 1832, Eau de Cologne was only sold in Rosoli bottles.

Royal Warrant granted by HM Queen Victoria in 1837

'Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz' (English: 'John Maria Farina opposite Jülich's Place') is the world's oldest Eau de Cologne and perfume factory. It was founded at the beginning of the 18th century by John Maria Farina, an Italian perfume maker who started his business in 1709. The company's logo is a red tulip. The French name 'Jean Marie Farina vis à vis de la place Juliers' and the short form 'Farina gegenüber' were also commonly used over a long period of time.

This perfume factory is still run by the founder’s descendants, who are the 8th generation of family members. The company has held Royal Warrants as purveyors of perfume to the German, French and British Royal Families.

The company headquarters and birthplace of Eau de Cologne are both to be found in Farina House, which also accommodates the fragrance museum.

The company’s history

The John Maria Farina (I) years, 1709-1766

Ancestors

The founding of Farina House dates back to the early 18th century. In June 1709, Johann Baptist Farina travelled to Cologne, where his younger brother Johann Maria Farina had been working for his uncle since 1708. On 13 July, Johann Baptist Farina (Italian: Giovanni Battista Farina) founded the company G.B.Farina and, from that point on, started his book-keeping, which has never been interrupted since. On 17 July 1709, Johann Baptist Farina registered as a new resident at Cologne town hall and on the 24th was granted free citizenship. In those days, this procedure was necessary for a settler to set up a private business. With the support of his uncle, who was a member of the Maastricht government, and the salesman Johann Maria Farina (real name Giovanni Maria Farina), Johann Baptist Farina (II) signed on 1 August 1709 a twelve year contract to rent a building at the junction of the streets Großen Bottengassen and Goldschmidts, now known as Unter Goldschmidt, Cologne^[1]. Johann Baptist and his brother-in-law, Franz Balthasar Borgnis, then founded 'Farina & Compagnie', which later developed into 'Gebrüder Farina & Comp.' (English: Farina Brothers and Co.) after Johann Maria Farina (I) and Carl Hieronymus Farina joined in 1714 and 1716. The Farina company sold a wide range of various luxury items, such as lace, handkerchiefs, silk stockings, wigs, feathers, tobacco boxes, sealing wax, face powder, and other such articles that one would have expected to find in a shop run by Italians.

John Maria Farina House

After 1716, Gebrüder Farina & Comp. experienced a number of financial difficulties which led to Franz Balthasar Borgnis’ and Carl Hieronymus Farina’s departures. This left Johann Baptist Farina (II) and Johann Maria Farina (I) at the head of the company, which was subsequently named 'Fratelli Farina' (English: Farina Brothers)^[2]. In the years that followed, the two brothers concentrated on transporting goods, an enterprise, which, however, did not prove to be successful.^[3]

Johann Baptist Farina (II) died on 24 April 1732. In the subsequent months, Johann Maria (I) carried out an inventory before renaming the business 'Johann Maria Farina', a name which has remained unchanged ever since. After this change, business improved, as Farina (I) wrote in a letter addressed to his relative Francesco Barbieri back in Italy:

After having been at the head of this business for no longer than two years, John Maria Farina was granted the right to citizenship by the city of Cologne.

The following decades, the 1730s and 1740s, happened to be very prosperous ones, during which Farina (I) concentrated his efforts in the business of delivery, and it was only at the beginning of the 1760s that the perfume business took centre stage.

An astounding fragrance

In 1703, long before he joined his brother to found 'Farina & Compagnie' in 1714, John Maria Farina (I) put his skills to work and created a fragrance that was to become a great success. Indeed, the Italian perfume maker gave birth to a whole new type of complex fragrance which combined several essences with pure alcohol, an innovative combination.^{[citation needed]}

The fragrance was fresh, which contrasted to most of the known heavy scents of the time, such as cinnamon oil, sandalwood oil or musk.

In 1708, John Maria Farina wrote a letter to his brother, John Baptist Farina, in which he describes his perfume as follows:

“I have created a perfume which is reminiscent of a spring morning following a soft shower where fragrances of wild narcissi combine with that of sweet orange flowers. This perfume refreshes me and stimulates both my senses and imagination” ^[5].

The top note is essentially composed of citrus fruits, Bergamot being the main component. The latter has to be picked whilst still green, as only the unripe peel is suitable for the production of Farina’s perfume. Furthermore, the fact that only natural essences were and still are used means that the perfume maker must blend and combine various vintages to obtain a constant fragrance. Plants react to various climatic changes, thus causing their scent to vary. Farina was meticulous in this regard and regularly set aside small samples of his perfume which were then used as comparisons to ensure his perfume did not undergo any changes. Some samples exist today^[6].

Eau de Cologne takes over the European market

Initially, Farina limited the sale of his perfume to Cologne and Frankfurt’s trade centre. The first delivery dates back to 1716 when Farina sent 12 bottles to a Madame Billy in Aachen^[7].

From 1730 onwards, Farina’s list of customers expanded at a great pace and, according to records, 3700 bottles were delivered to a total of 39 addresses between 1730 and 1739. His perfume, which delighted the upper nobility, soon became a royal and imperial favourite.

By 1740, Eau de Cologne was a great success and sold in Rouen, Paris, Strasburg, Magdeburg, Trier, Wesel, Kleve, Lyon ,Vienna, Amsterdam, La Haye, Liège, Lille, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Augsburg, Stuttgart, Bamberg, Mainz, and Koblenz.

In a letter dated 9 April 1747, Farina explains that his perfume is known throughout Europe^[8].

Goethe Letter. On 9 May 1802, Goethe wrote a letter to the painter Hoffmann residing in Cologne: "... I seize this opportunity to ask you to please have a box of 6 bottles of Eau de Cologne sent to me. I will pay you back along with the rest. " Goethe’s order was sent to Weimar on 22 May 1802.

Packaging, quality seal and advertising

Johann Maria Farina (I) had his Eau de Cologne filled into long bottles, the so-called Rosoli bottle. Both full measures (8 ounces) and half measures of Eau de Cologne were sold and, in the 1760s, one could also find quarter bottles. Half bottles were most common and a dozen of them would have been sold for 6 Reichsthaler or 9 Guilder. The items were initially sold individually, whereas later Farina delivered his perfume in boxes of 4, 6, 8, 12 and 18 bottles.

The red seal, which bore the family crest and which appeared on all products, was a sign of quality and authenticity. Each delivery was also accompanied by a signed document on which the directions for use were printed. According to the document, Eau de Cologne was not exclusively intended for exterior use. It was described as good for dental hygiene, efficient against bad breath and a way of avoiding infectious diseases. In August 1785, a certain Mrs Duplessis from Nogent enquired whether Eau de Cologne could in any way help her paralysed husband. In his response, Johann Maria Farina (III) suggested she dampen some pieces of cloth in the perfume before applying them to her husband's aching limbs and recommended she add 50 drops of Eau de Cologne to his weekly drinking water. The letter ended as follows: “At least you run no risk of harming him in any way”^[9]. However, the healing properties were removed from the instruction leaflet in 1811 and used only in advertisements. In 1803, the signature that had featured on the information leaflet was replaced by a stamp, which then made it possible to enclose a leaflet with each individual bottle.

The company under Johann Maria Farina (III), 1766-1792

Johann Maria Farina III. (1713-1792)

Famous customers

1734 Frederick William I of Prussia

1736 Clemens August of Bavaria

1738 Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

1740 Maria Theresa of Austria

1745 Louis XV of France; Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great); Voltaire

1758 Ferdinand VI of Spain

1782 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1791 Stanisław August Poniatowski

1797 Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

1800 Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden

1802 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1804 Napoleon Bonaparte

1806 Archduke Anton Victor of Austria

1807 Ludwig van Beethoven

1809 Maria Carolina of Austria

1810 Pauline Bonaparte; Letizia Bonaparte; Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia

1811 Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma; Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor; Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau

1815 Alexander I of Russia; Alexander von Humboldt; Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich

1814 Friedrich Schiller

1822 Pedro I of Brazil

1824 Heinrich Heine

1830 William IV of the United Kingdom

1837 Victoria of the United Kingdom

1841 Frederick William IV of Prussia

1843 Nicholas I of Russia; Leopold II, Prince of Lippe

1845 Henry, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen

1846 Ernest Augustus I of Hanover; Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

1847 Christian VIII of Denmark

1848 Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

1850 Frederick Augustus II of Saxony; Frederick VII of Denmark

1855 Alexander II of Russia; John of Saxony

1859 Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

1861 Wilhelm I, German Emperor

1862 Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

1863 Edward VII of the United Kingdom

1866 Luís I of Portugal; Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse

1868 Napoleon III; Charles I of Württemberg; Benjamin Disraeli

1870 Alexandra of Denmark

1871 Wilhelm I, German Emperor

1872 Ludwig II of Bavaria

1872 Franz Joseph I of Austria; Elisabeth of Bavaria

1873 Leopold III of Belgium; Albert of Saxony

1874 Oscar II of Sweden; Victoria, Princess Royal

1876 Victor Emmanuel II of Italy

1877 Christian IX of Denmark; Mark Twain

1878 Umberto I of Italy

1879 Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse

1880 William III of the Netherlands

1881 Carol I of Romania

1882 Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

1888 Frederick III, German Emperor; Wilhelm II, German Emperor; Mori Ōgai

1889 Oscar Wilde

1894 Otto of Bavaria

1901 Edward VII of the United Kingdom

1910 George V of the United Kingdom

1921 Thomas Mann

1925 Franz Lehár

1927 Gustaf V of Sweden

1928 Konrad Adenauer

1935 Marlene Dietrich

1939 Heinz Rühmann

1951 Soraya Esfandiary

1959 Indira Gandhi; Romy Schneider

1964 Françoise Sagan

1970 Hildegard Knef

1987 Diana, Princess of Wales

Literature

Sources
The Farina archives are currently being held in section 33 of the Rhenish Westphalian economic archives (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv). Several documents have been digitised and are available in Wikimedia Commons and in Wikisource. Instruction leaflet dating back to 1811 (in German).

• Delivery of Eau de Cologne to the French Empress Marie-Louise:
  • Extract from the Farina House order book dated 6 November 1811 (in German)
  • Letter from Farina to his commission agent in Paris, Delaporte, date 9 November 1811 (in French)
• Ingrid Haslinger (1996), Kunde – Kaiser. Die Geschichte der ehemaligen k. u. k. Hoflieferanten, Schroll: Vienna. ISBN 3-85202-129-4
• Florian Langenscheidt Herrausgeber: Deutsches Marken Lexikon, pages 396-397, Deutsche Standards, Köln 2008. ISBN 978-3-8349-0629-8

Literature related to the company

• Dr. Hermann Schaefer (1929), Geschichte, Markenschutz, Nachahmer, Rechtsprechung. Aus dem Archiv des Originalhauses Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz gegr. 1709, Cologne.
• Dr. Wilhelm Mönckmeier (1934), Die Geschichte des Hauses Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichsplatz in Köln gegründet 1709, revised by Hermann Schaefer, Berlin (Detailed information concerning the history of the company from its beginnings to 1914 as well as a cursory overview of the period between 1914 and 1933).
• Markus Eckstein (2006), Eau de Cologne: Auf den Spuren des berühmten Duftes, Cologne, ISBN 3-7616-2027-6.
• Dr. Verena Pleitgen, Die Entwicklung des betriebswirtschaftlichen Rechnungswesens von 1890 bis 1940 bei Farina, http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/volltexte/2005/1583/
• Prof. Marita Krauss (2008), Die Königlich Bayerischen Hoflieferanten Wo der König Kunde war, Munich, ISBN 978-3-937200-27-9
• Dr. Astrid Küntzel (2008), Fremde in Köln Integration und Ausgrenzung zwischen 1750 und 1814, Cologne, ISBN 978-3-412-20072-5
• Prof. R. Amelunxen (1952), Das Kölner Ereignis, Ruhrländische Verlagsgesellschaft, Essen
• Dr.Bernd Ernsting & Dr.Ulrich Krings (1996), Der Ratsturm, p. 506-507, J.P.Bachem Verlag: Cologne
• Rheinisch-westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien 1953, chapter 7, p. 161-198
• Jürgen Wilhelm (ed.) (2005), Das große Köln-Lexikon, Greven Verlag: Cologne ISBN 3-7743-0355-X
• Prof. Klara van Eyll, Die Geschichte d.unternehmer.Selbstverwin Köln 1797-1914, p. 163, 234 & 235, Cologne RWWA (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv)
• Robert Steimel (1958), Kölner Köpfe, Steimel Verlag: Cologne.

Technical literature

• Giovanni Fenaroli & L. Maggesi (1960), Acqua di Colonia. In: Rivista italiana essenze, profumi, piante offizinali, olii vegetali, saponi, p. 42
• Francesco La Face (1960), Le materie prime per l'acqua di colonia. À: Relazione al Congresso di Sta. Maria Maggiore.
• Sébastien Sabetay (1960), Les Eaux de Cologne Parfumée. Sta. Maria Maggiore Symposium.
• Frederick V. Wells (1960), Variations on the Eau de Cologne Theme, Sta. Maria Maggiore Symposium.
• Frederick V. Wells & Marcel Billot (1981), Perfumery Technology: Art, Science, Industry, p. 25 & 278, Horwood Books: Chichester, ISBN 085312-301-2

Publications related to Farina

• Gildemeister, E., Hoffmann, Fr. (1899), Die aetherischen Oele. Mit vier Karten und zahlreichen Abbildungen, 1st ed., Julius Springer: Berlin
• Ludger Kremer & Elke Ronneberger-Sibold (eds.), Names in Commerce and Industry: Past and Present. In: Pd. Dr. Christian Weyers (2008), Brand name, Herkunftsangabe und Freizeichen im Grenzbereich zwischen Proprium und Appellativum, p. 45-60, Logos Verlag: Berlin ISBN 978-3832517885

Fiction

• Balzac (November 1837), Histoire de la Grandeur et de la Décadence de César Birotteau, Marchand Parfumeur, Adjoint au Maire du deuxième Arrondissement de Paris, Chevalier de la Légion-d'honneur, etc., Paris.
• George Meredith (1894), Farina, Chapman and Hall Ld.: London

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz

• Farina Gegenüber (Company website in several languages)
• Farina House fragrance museum in Cologne (Here you will find many pictures and directions to the museum)
• Interview with Johann Maria Farina

Gallery

Farina House in 1709	Farina House today	Johann Maria Farina	Melaten Cemetery, Cologne
The Original Eau de Cologne

References