History
According to a legend, on 8 October 1792 a Carthusian monk made the merchant Wilhelm Muelhens (1762-1841) a wedding gift: the secret recipe of a so-called "aqua mirabilis", a "miracle water" for internal and external use. Muelhens then founded a small factory at Cologne's "Glockengasse" and established the first "Eau de Cologne" as a remedy. In the early 18th century, the Italian expatriate Johann Maria Farina (1685–1766) created a new fragrance and named it Eau de Cologne ("water from Cologne"), after his new residence, Cologne. Over the course of the century, the fragrance became increasingly popular.
In 1803, Wilhelm Mülhens bought the license and company rights from a person named Carlo Francesco Farina, unrelated to the Farina family of the perfume business. Mülhens resold this licence to more than twenty individuals; however, in 1835 these transactions were voided and judged as invalid by a court and the illegitimate 'Farina' companies were liquidated. Nevertheless, the son of Wilhelm Mülhens set out to find another unaffiliated Farina in Italy, making him a business partner instead of merely buying rights to his name. Another company by the name of Farina was established.
Peter Joseph Muehlens and his son Wilhelm Muelhens had been in a dispute over the use of the name "Farina" from 1800 to 1881. The Farina family accused Mülhens of using the name without authorization. The firm "Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz" feared confusion between the products because they also produced perfumes. In 1832 Wilhelm Muelhens lost the dispute, whereupon he employed another Mr. Farina from Mortara in order to continue using the name.
The company name was Eau de Cologne & Parfümerie Fabrik Glockengasse No. 4711 gegenüber der Pferdepost von Ferd. Mülhens in Köln am Rhein until 1990, when it was renamed Mülhens GmbH & Co. KG.
In 1994, the company of the Mülhens family was bought by Wella AG, Darmstadt, Germany. Since 1997, Wella has operated its cosmetic activities under the name Cosmopolitan Cosmetics GmbH, although the name Mülhens GmbH & Co. KG was still in use. In 2003, Wella AG was taken over by the American competitor Procter & Gamble.
In the summer of 2006, Procter & Gamble announced its intention of selling the "local" 4711 brand, along with three other former Mühlens brands, in an effort to focus its portfolio on "global" brands. Several interested parties competed over a period of several months until it was announced in December 2006 that the brand rights had been sold to the perfume company Mäurer & Wirtz in Aachen, a subsidiary of the Dalli Group.
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