Wilhelm Muelhens

Wilhelm Mülhens was born June 25, 1762, in Troisdorf, Germany, and died March 6, 1841, in Cologne. According to company legend, a Carthusian monk gave him the secret recipe for an 'aqua mirabilis' as a wedding gift in 1792, which he used to found a small Cologne factory, first recorded as a cologne manufacturer in 1805; the fragrance was later sold as 4711 from 1881, named for his distillery's address on Glockengasse.