Mülhens
Cologne's original eau de cologne since 1792.
Mülhens is the founding family of 4711, one of the world's oldest continuously produced fragrances. In 1792, Wilhelm Mülhens established his distillery in Cologne's Glockengasse, where, according to tradition, a Carthusian monk had given him the recipe for Aqua Mirabilis as a wedding gift. When French revolutionary forces numbered the city's buildings, the Mülhens house received the number 4711 — a designation that would become one of fragrance history's most recognisable names. The factory grew across three generations of the family, becoming a landmark of German perfumery before the site was destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. The Mülhens family sold the business in 1994; it passed through several owners before landing with Stolberg-based fragrance house Mäurer & Wirtz in 2006. The signature Echt Kölnisch Wasser remains a brisk, citrus-forward icon, inspiring contemporary interpretations that honour its 18th-century origins while keeping the classic formula relevant.
DNA over time
Each column is an era. Each colored band shows that family’s share of accord weight across every perfume the house released in that window. Bigger band = the house leaned harder on that family.
