Ferdinand Mülhens

Ferdinand Mülhens (December 23, 1844 – January 15, 1928) was a land owner and entrepreneur in

Königswinter Königswinter (; ; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at the foot of the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Mülhens was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. In the 19th century he managed the perfume factory founded by his grandfather Wilhelm Mülhens at

's Glockengasse 4711, producing the original

Eau de Cologne Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne") or simply cologne is a perfume originating in Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a gene ...

. As owner of the 4711 brand, he received an imperial warrant as purveyor to the imperial and royal court in Vienna. During the years 1912 to 1914, he set up Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, which later become the Guest House of the Federal Government of

. Since 1913, he was the owner of the

Drachenfelsbahn The Drachenfels Railway () is a rack railway line in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The line runs from Königswinter, on the east bank of the Rhine, to the summit of the Drachenfels (Siebengebirge), Drachenfels mountain at an altitude of . Besid ...

, a mountain railway line in the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

region of

. From 1922 until his death, Ferdinand Mülhens was an honorary citizen of Königswinter. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulhens, Ferdinand 1844 births 1928 deaths People from Königswinter Italian Royal Warrant holders Businesspeople from Cologne People from the Rhine Province Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court