You are bidding on one postcard (whole thing) from 1889 out ofKohlscheid (today OT von Herzogenrath).
The Kohlscheider Aktiengesellschaft “Self-Help” (distributor of consumer products) addresses the Soap factory Mäurer & Wirtz in Stolberg (Rhineland) and complained about the oil soap being overcharged by 30 pfennigs, which she paid at the lower price agreed for 1889.
The recipient has the company name in the form “Actien-Gesellschaft Selbsth.” written down; the card itself is signed “the Fabrikei”.
The Mäurer & Wirtz group today sells cosmetics and care products and is still based in Stolberg.
Dated Kohlscheid, 22. January 1889.
The postmark with the old form of the place name "Kohlscheidt."
5-pfennig postal stationery (9.2 x 13.9 cm).
Condition: Card browned, stained and rubbed; Corners and edges bumped, with a small corner crease. Please also note the pictures!
Internal note: 2207 Ostb PKs 23-01
About Mäurer & Wirtz (source: wikipedia):
Mäurer & Wirtz, founded by Ernst Mäurer and Andreas August Wirtz in 1845 as a soap factory in Stolberg, is a manufacturer of fragrance and care products and has been an independent subsidiary of Dalli-Werke since 1990. The family business is run in the fifth generation by managing partner Hermann Wirtz and managing director Stephen Kemen.
The headquarters and production location is Stolberg in the Aachen city region with approx. 300 employees. In addition to its own brands such as 4711, Tabac and Les Destinations, licensed brands such as s.Oliver, Betty Barclay, Baldessarini and Otto Kern are produced.
The main markets are Germany, the Benelux countries, Austria, Eastern Europe and China, Switzerland and global exports. Sales partners for a nationwide distribution network are the perfumery and drugstore retailers, department stores and department stores, drugstores and selected hypermarkets and online retailers.
Story
1845 to 1883: The history of the family business goes back to Michael Mäurer and his stepson Andreas August Wirtz, who founded the family business on January 24th. November 1845 founded a soap factory in Stolberg and on November 19th They received their license to operate in May 1851. Initially, only soft soaps, curd soaps and fulled soaps for the textile industry as well as fine soaps were sold in a grocery store for the local market. Over time, the products also became established in the Rhineland and later in neighboring countries (especially Benelux and France); In 1867, for example, the Aachen cloth factories were supplied with fulling soap. Shortly afterwards, soap products were sold in Paris and San Francisco through licensing agreements.
1884 to 1937: The production of washing powder began in 1884, and the first trademarks were registered around the turn of the century;[3] for example, the brand “Dalli” was confirmed by the Imperial Patent Office in April 1884.
Andreas August Wirtz's widow, Apollonia Wirtz, acquired on the 22nd. In December 1888, the city of Stolberg acquired a larger area with the former Grünenthal copper farm. With a new factory outside the city center in 1889, the company initiated the change from a craft to an industrial company. The newly acquired space meant that larger boiling and lye boilers could now be purchased in order to increase production. In 1901, the newly developed steam heating system replaced the boiling boilers of that time. As the company expanded, the company premises became too small after a while. For this reason, buildings with a direct rail connection were built at a new location in 1913, which further drove large-scale mass production. A branch was also opened in Düsseldorf; In 1925 the company employed around 400 people.
1938 to 1989: In 1938 the company took over the Berlin soap distributor Döring Werke AG and the Viennese perfumery Riva, which then also became a permanent production location. From 1945, initiated by the managing director Jakob Chauvistré, considerations were given to the production of pharmaceutical preparations, which were further pursued in the laboratory of the Dalli-Werke, which was founded in 1945, and led to the founding of the pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal in August 1946. In 1950 the company had more than 1,000 employees. In the same year, two independent business areas were created under the umbrella of Dalli-Werke Mäurer & Wirtz: Mäurer & Wirtz for soaps and body care and Dalli for washing powder.
In 1951, the men's cosmetics brand Tabac was launched, which is one of the best-known and most successful products from Mäurer & Wirtz; In 1952 the moniker Original was added. According to the daily newspaper Die Welt, more than 85 million bottles of this men's fragrance were sold.
In 1967, a new cosmetics and personal care range called riar was introduced, which was later discontinued.
Since 1990: In 1990 the family business Mäurer & Wirtz received a new structure, and Mäurer & Wirtz GmbH & Co. KG. was created as an independent subsidiary of the Dalli Group. In addition to detergents and soaps, Mäurer & Wirtz now mainly produces scented water and cosmetics. Since 1992, products have increasingly been manufactured through licensing agreements - e.g. B. Betty Barclay, Otto Kern and s.Oliver. In 2007, the company finally took over the perfume brand 4711 (often also called cologne), including the Cologne headquarters, from the American consumer goods group Procter & Gamble.
During the brand takeover, the rights to the perfume brands Tosca, Sir Irisch Moos and Extase were also acquired from Mäurer & Wirtz. In November 2011, the fragrance series from the Baldessarini and Windsor brands was also added, which was later discontinued. At the same time, the company continued to sell various own-brand perfumes.
Mäurer & Wirtz was hit hard by the 2021 flood in the region - the water, which was up to 1½ meters high, caused a power outage in the factory and brought production to a standstill for several days. However, business operations were able to resume a short time later.
Products and brands: Mäurer & Wirtz includes its own brands 4711, Tabac Original, Tosca, Sir Irisch Moos and Nonchalance, each of which offers a range of perfumes and other care products. It also produces products for third-party brands such as s.Oliver, Otto Kern, Betty Barclay and Baldessarini as well as white label products, which are produced in large quantities for discounters.
Corporate structure
Dalli Group: Mäurer & Wirtz GmH & Co. KG was entered in the commercial register in 1990 and is considered the operating company of Mäurer & Wirtz. The company's managing director has been since the 26th. March 2020 Stephan Kemen. According to its own information, the company has around 300 employees and achieved annual sales of around €178 million in 2020.
Several companies, such as: B. Cosmeurop Parfums, Théany Cosmetic, NewYorker Cosmetics, s.Oliver Cosmetics and comma Cosmetics.
Mäurer & Wirtz GmbH & Co. KG is an independent company belonging to the Dalli Group (Dalli-Werke GmbH & Co. KG) and does not publish its own annual financial statements, but is listed consolidated in the Dalli Group's consolidated financial statements; This company is in turn controlled by Hermann Wirtz, who runs the group as a partner as part of the fifth generation of the Wirtz family of entrepreneurs.
Social commitment and sponsorship: The company supports various local institutions and clubs. For example, For example, in a long-term funding project, full-day care was provided for low-income families. As part of the flood of the century in 2021, the company set up a joint donation account for affected employees.
Mäurer & Wirtz was also active as a sponsor and partner of the locally based football club Alemannia Aachen.