History: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France in Koln and Cologne history trivia facts
Story below reprinted from “The Dallas Morning News”
Story by SUSAN FARLOW / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
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COLOGNE, Germany – "I had no idea," said a woman in the Cologne perfume shop Farina House. She had just learned that eau de cologne was created in this German city on the Rhine River.
She isn't alone. Few people connect cologne, the fragrance, to Cologne the city. But here, 300 years ago, eau de cologne ("water of Cologne") was first concocted.
The scent scientist, according to most sources, was a 23-year-old Italian named Johann Maria Farina (1685-1766), who learned the art of perfume-making from his grandmother, moved to Cologne, fashioned a delicate new scent in 1708, and named it in honor of his adopted hometown. In 1709, he set up the fragrance company.
Eight generations later, the company remains in the hands of the Farina family, who continue to make the original citrusy fragrance, still using the secret formula.
"Here is my business card," said Johann Maria Farina, the current managing director of the legendary perfume house, who carries the same name as his scent-inventing forebear. The card read, "The World's Oldest Fragrance Company."
He added, "Why don't you take the audio tour of our museum?"
In the same building as the shop, the three-story museum traces Cologne's cologne heritage.
It's a history that's far from simple but plenty entertaining. It would make a great movie, its plot stuffed with centuries-old rivalries, eccentric characters and the grooming habits of some of history's highest and mightiest.
Before I'd even set foot in Farina House, I knew its brand wasn't the only famous cologne in town.
While Farina might be the oldest, the cologne named No. 4711 is the most popular. A huge 4711 sign greets arrivals at the city's train station. Throughout Old Town in this 2,000-year-old city, shops showcase 4711 in their windows. A visitor could be forgiven for thinking 4711 was the only sniff in town.
To get the lowdown on these two eau-de-cologne dynasties, I visited both Farina House and the 4711 home shop to ferret out the personalities behind these storied brands, rivals since the late 18th century.
The tour of Farina's fragrance museum begins on the third floor, where you come face to face with a painting of the scent's creator.
I couldn't take my eyes off his nose. That snoot was so sensitive, according to a book I bought at the tourist office, that it could discern a person's country and occupation "with his eyes closed." Farina was – and I mean this in the nicest possible way – a human bloodhound.
As I wandered among displays of antique perfume bottles, exhibits on fragrance forgeries and a reproduction of a distillation room, the self-guided audio tour explained why Farina's fragrance was called cologne instead of Köln, the German name of this city.
"Three hundred years ago," said the CD guide, "French was spoken by the upper classes from southern Italy to northern England. French was also the language of trade." Thus, the French word for the city, Cologne, was used.
In the 18th century, fragrance was a luxury item. Before long, Farina's cologne was being shipped to royal houses throughout Europe.
Records show Napoleon used a bottle a day. The emperor is said to have had special boots in which he could stash a bottle of Farina cologne for dabbing on the go. Other regular customers of yore, said a display, included Queen Victoria, Empress Maria Theresa, Mozart, Voltaire, Louis XV and XVI. More recent users: Princess Diana and Bill Clinton.
For most of the 1700s, eau de cologne was a term used solely for Farina's scent. Because there were no such things as trademarks in those days, hundreds of competitors sprang up using the term eau de cologne and even the name Farina.
One such competitor was a local merchant, Wilhelm Muelhens. The story goes that Muelhens received a fragrance recipe as a wedding gift from a Carthusian monk. In 1792, he went into the cologne business, adopting the Farina name.
The original Farina company retaliated with court battles. Finally, in 1881, competitors were forbidden from using the Farina name. So it was that Muelhens' company's brand was renamed No. 4711, after the firm's street address: 4711 Glockengasse.
Four blocks from Farina House, that 4711 flagship store is a white creation that resembles a fairy-tale fort. Outside, a crowd was gathered, their eyes riveted on the building's roofline.
"They are here to see the glockenspiel," said Sabina, my guide. As the hour struck, a chorus line of spiffy soldier figures whirled above the clock to the tune of "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem.
Inside the bustling shop, women bustled around displays of 4711 colognes, soaps, even T-shirts. Up on the mezzanine, a half-dozen exhibits told the story of 4711's nearly 220-year history.
The main attraction stood at the building's entrance: a nonstop fountain of cologne. Women, young and old, ran their hands through the fragrance as friends captured the moment on camera.
Watching the women, my husband finally put in his two cents about our sniffing safari.
"You know, the story of cologne is a travelogue: Italian creator, German birthplace, French name."
And I'd thought he hadn't been paying attention.
Susan Farlow is a freelance writer in Maine.
Farina House Fragrance Museum
•The combination fragrance museum and shop is at 21 Obenmarspforten in Cologne, Germany. It's across the street from City Hall, whose tower boasts a statue of Johann Maria Farina, eau de cologne's creator. Contact: www.farina.eu.
•The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
•Admission is about $6. Audio-CD tours are available anytime the museum is open. Guided tours for groups of five to 20 people begin on the hour; duration, about 45 minutes. Private tours and tours with guides in historical costume are also available
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