taku - traditiOn & innOvatiOn

01. 02. 03.
04. 05. 06.
I
have found a fragrance which reminds me of a beautiful
Italian morning in spring, of a poet’s daffodil, of orange
blossoms after a rain fall. How incredibly invigorating
– for my senses, and my imagination”, so the romantic
account of the perfumer, Johann Maria Farina about his
creation, which history came to know as Eau de Cologne.
For around 200 years, Eau de Cologne was an exclusive
scent enjoyed not only by European nobility: Queen Victoria
and the German Emperor, Wilhelm I, used it, as did Goethe
and King Frederick the Great.
“I HAVE FOUND A FRAGRANCE WHICH
REMINDS ME OF A BEAUtIFUL ItALIAN MORNING
IN SPRING, OF A POEt‘S DAFFODIL ...”
When Johann Maria Farina, the great great great great
great grandfather of today’s owner, created the perfume
over 300 years ago, Cologne was one of Europe’s largest
metropolises and a filthy Moloch. Back then, in the early
18th century, refuse collection was non-existent; sanitary
installations were rudimentary. The stench in the streets was
unbearable and those who were able to indulge in fragrant
aromas were amongst the privileged. In those days, two
brothers of Italian descent managed a business for luxury
items located on Große Budengasse, 200 metres from the
Cologne Cathedral. This is where the famous scent was
created. Initially known as “Farina aqua mirabilis”, it was
later renamed “Farina Eau de Cologne” and Cologne became
synonymous with exclusivity for a pleasant aroma.
Johann Maria Farina senior had learned the perfumer’s
trade from scratch, was familiar with how to distil pure
alcohol, with maceration and extraction processes – terms
which today’s readers or cinemagoers will know from
01. Das Farinahaus gegenüber
dem ehemaligen Jülichs-Platz.
02. Johann Maria Farina (1685 –
1766), der Erfinder des Kölnisch
Wasser. 03. Der Fasskeller im Jahr
1924. 04. Das Johann-Maria-
Farina-Labor um 1969. 05. Die
Abfüllung des Duftwassers im Jahr
1928. 06. Arbeiterinnen bei der
Etikettierung der Flakons, ebenfalls
1928.
Süskind’s “The Perfume”. These skills enabled him to supply
a product of steady quality to his customers. Soon, there
was not a single ball or sophisticated salon in Rhineland –
and later in the whole of Europe – where everybody smelt
of what at the time was an outrageously costly fragrance.
Encouraged by its success, the business moved to a much
more sophisticated address, to Obenmarspforten 23, located
vis-à-vis Jülichs Square and which local residents would
often simply refer to as “opposite Farina”.
The major success of this fragrance attracted a plethora of
imitations, many of which bearing even the same “Farina”
addendum to the name, which the originators fought bitterly
to be interdicted. The most persistent imitator since the 19th
century has been the Mülhens family, whose Eau de Cologne
cruised the market under the original name until 1881
when, after a legal dispute that lasted decades, it was
finally prohibited from distributing the namesake. Since
then, the perfume has simply been
branded as “4711”.