Melitta Bentz invented the coffee filter in 1908 and changed coffee culture forever. Through the decades and after reckoning with its relationship with the Third Reich, the company she founded in her Dresden apartment endures today.

Research:

“The Weimar Republic 1918-1929 - EdexcelChanges in society, 1924–29.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9y64j6/revision/8#:~:text=Hourly%20wages%20rose%20in%20real,crisis%2C%20such%20as%20the%20hyperinflation
DEUTSCHES REICH REICHSPATENTAMТ PATENTSCHRIFT. “Melitta-Werke Akt.-Ges. in Minden, Westf. Filterpapiereinsatz für Kaffeeaufbrühfilter u. dgl.” https://www.dpma.de/docs/dpma/veroeffentlichungen/de653796a_melitta1937.pdf
German Patent and Trademark Office. “The invention of the coffee filters.” https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/ingeniouswomen/110jahrekaffeefilter/index.html
“The History of Leipziger Messe.” https://www.leipziger-messe.de/en/company/portrait/history/
KOSSACK, KRISTAN. “Betriebsalltag und Unternehmensentwicklung eines NS-Musterbetriebs im Spiegel seiner Werkzeitung.” Westfälische Zeitschrift 155. 2005. http://www.westfaelische-zeitschrift.lwl.org
“Melitta Bentz - the woman who invented the coffee filter.” Europeana. https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/melitta-bentz-the-woman-who-invented-the-coffee-filter
“Melitta Bentz KG - coffee filter.” Deutsches-Kunststoff Museum. https://www.deutsches-kunststoff-museum.de/sammlung/virtuelles-museum/k-2002-00982/
Morris, Jonathan. “Coffee: A Global History.” Reaktion Books. 2019.
Moses, Claire. “Overlooked No More: Melitta Bentz, Who Invented the Coffee Filter.” New York Times. Sept. 5, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/obituaries/melitta-bentz-overlooked.html
“Our History.” Melitta Group. https://www.melitta-group.com/en/unternehmen/unsere-geschichte
Wierling, Dorothee. “Coffee.” International Encyclopedia of the First World War. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/coffee/

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Melitta Bentz and the Coffee Filter

Stuff You Missed in History Class