The Merck family is a German family of industrialists and bankers, known for establishing the world's oldest pharmaceutical company

Merck Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including: * the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668 ** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...

, its American former subsidiary Merck & Co. (MSD), which is now an independent company, as well as the Hamburg merchant bank H. J. Merck & Co. The family still owns the majority of the pharmaceutical company Merck.

History

The family first appeared in

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Franconi ...

in the 15th century. The family has a long history in pharmacy going back to the 17th century. In 1668

Friedrich Jacob Merck Friedrich Jacob Merck (18 February 1621—1678) was a German pharmacist and a member of the Merck family. He was the founder of the world's oldest pharmaceutical company, now known as the Merck Group, which was established in 1668.Merck KGaA (Edi ...

purchased the second town

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, known as the Engel-Apotheke or Angel Pharmacy, which would evolve into the major company

, the world's oldest operating pharmaceutical and chemical company. When Friedrich died, the pharmacy was passed on to his nephew and it has been owned by the family ever since. The sixth person in this series of pharmacists was

Heinrich Emanuel Merck Heinrich Emanuel Merck (15 September 1794 – 14 February 1855) was an apothecary whose descendants are the founders of Merck and Company and Merck KGaA. Biography He was a direct descendant of company founder Friedrich Jacob Merck, who had pur ...

who in 1827 established the chemical-pharmaceutical factory in

, which laid the foundations for the company's research operations and growth from a pharmacy to a major company in the 19th century. The Merck family controls a majority of 70.3% of the company's shares. An American former subsidiary of the Merck company, Merck & Co. (MSD), was also established by the Merck family and still carries the family's name, but, unlike its former parent company, is no longer owned by the Merck family, since it was nationalized by the American government in 1917 because of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the stock was bought back by George F. Merck in 1919. Merck & Co. was also led by family member

George W. Merck George Wilhelm Herman Emanuel Merck (March 29, 1894 – November 9, 1957) was the president of Merck & Co. from 1925 to 1950 and a member of the Merck family. Early life George W. Merck was born in New York City, to George Friedrich and Fri ...

(son of George F. Merck) from 1925 until 1950. A branch of the family descended from Heinrich Johann Merck (1770–1853) belonged to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

's ruling class of

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

merchants. His family founded the merchant bank H. J. Merck & Co. and several family members served as senators in Hamburg, while his son

Carl Merck Carl Hermann Merck (3 May 1809 - 16 October 1880) was one of the leading Hamburg statesmen of the 19th century, holding the office of Syndicus from 1847 until his death in 1880.Carl Hermann Merck in General German Biography (ADB ) de.wikisource.o ...

(1809–1880) was Syndicus (foreign affairs head) of Hamburg 1847–1880. Another son, the merchant banker Ernst Merck, who had been the Austrian consul-general in Hamburg, was ennobled by the Austrian emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

in 1860 and received the title of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Family members

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, who in 1668 bought the "Engel-Apotheke" (Angel Pharmacy) in

. *

(1794–1855), grandson of

Johann Heinrich Merck Johann Heinrich Merck (11 April 1741 – 27 June 1791), German author and critic, was born at Darmstadt, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist. He studied law at Gießen, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's depar ...

(1741–1791). Emmanuel took over the pharmacy in 1816. *

, president of Merck & Co. in the US from 1925 to 1950

External links

2012 The IMD-Lombard Odier Global Family Business Award
{{Authority control Merck Group Merck & Co. Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry German noble families Banking families Grand burghers of Hamburg Business families History of banking German bankers Hanseatic families