4711 House, Cologne

The original Eau de Cologne products in the typical blue and green bottles and boxes are available in any department store, drug store, and perfumery. However, if buying them in the location of their origin means something to you, here it is: in Glockengasse, round the corner from the cathedral.

4711 is the old house number from those times when houses were not addressed and numbered streetwise but in one series all over town.

I have not compared prices and cannot tell if this shop is a tourist trap or not - decide for yourselves.

Johann Maria Farina, the inventor of eu de cologne, was Italian. He named his creation"cologne" in honor of his new adopted hometown in Germany. Originally, it was more than a body fragrance. Eau de cologne was also taken internally as a "miracle cure'' for ailments as diverse as migraine headaches, cold feet, even the plague. Its miracle ingredient? A 5 percent alcohol content rendered even more potent when mixed with wine.

Today, the Farina family's eighth generation oversees Farina House, a museum and retail shop in the heart of downtown Cologne. Four blocks away, a showroom occupies the birthplace of 4711 Original Eau de Cologne, a prominent rival since the late 18th century.

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Okay, I didn't go in but.... I've known about 4711 from having lived in Spain, years ago. I loved the scent of it and since many Spaniards wore it (at least, back then), the smell of it brings back lots of good memories. So, while researching this last trip I was really excited to learn that Cologne is the home of 4711 and that it's origin of the term "Eau de Cologne".

Naturally, I snapped a couple of photos of the building as we passed it one night (to come) and yes, I did buy a bottle of it for myself!

At the full hour you can see some figures of French soldiers at the top of the 4711 house. Chimes are being played and the figures move in a circle.This is at the roof of the house, above the store where you can buy all sorts of Eau de Cologne.
Inside the store there is fountain, giving Eau de Cologne instead of water. This gives the store a very pleasant smell.
Now, November 2006, they're having a sale, many items have been reduced for Christmas. I was surprised how cheap many items were. Usually, a touristy place marks things up, not down , before Christmas. Quite a lot of customers were in the shop, buying gifts.

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"Echt Kölnerwasser", as it says in the ads on the Central station, is of course known all over the world today. In the 4711 House, you can visit the company itself and wash your hands in the fountain full of eau de Cologne (see second picture) as well as read up on its history in the second floor gallery, and of course buy everything from the real stuff to t-shirts on it in its gift shop. Every hour between 9 and 19, on the hour, a carillon also plays from the top of the building. Usually the French national anthem and something more (which you can also hear on their website below), and this is because it was the Napoleonic troops which numbered the Cologne quarters in 1796, hence giving this house its famous number. The perfume itself is said to have been a wedding gift a few years earlier from a Carthusian monk to the Muehlen family in the palace. It was then known as "aqua mirabilis" (and also drunk) and it was Mr Muehlen's son who set up a company for business production, a business which almost a century later was registered under the famous house number.

The real eau de Cologne is known under number 4711. Napoleon ordered his troups to give all the houses a number, so 4711 is nothing more than an address. Today the real kolnisch wasser is still very famous.

#4711 started making cologne in the late 1700's and made it 80 proof. you were meant to both drink it and wear it. Nowadays, you just wear it.
A fountain in the lobby continuously pours free samples of cologne to try.
The staff are helpful and friendly and there is a free display on the 2nd floor giving a history of the store.

If you've ever heard about Eau de Cologne, here is its' origin. The most famous brand got its name when one of Napoleon's soldier was ordered to count every house (this was number 4711) during Napoleon's occupation of Cologne.

So if you need a gift for your mother get a small bottle of this refreshing perfume which is sold in the shop (as are other brands).

Enjoy the Glockenspiel (above the shop) with characters of Napoleon´s soldiers appearing hourly.