Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei KG, today Henkell Freixenet, is a German producer of Sekt (German quality sparkling wine), wine and spirits based in Wiesbaden. From 1958 until October 2021, it belonged to Dr. August Oetker KG. Since November 2021, it has been a member of Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen KG with a turnover of almost 2 billion euros and more than 8,000 employees.
History
founded the Henkell & Cie winery in Mainz in 1832. Twenty-five years later he commissioned the building of a “Champagne factory” in Walpodenstrasse in Mainz, making him among the first in Germany to master the technology of producing sparkling wine from wine. The Henkell Trocken brand was patented in 1894 under the management of , and in 1898 it became one of the first legally protected brands in Germany. In 1909, Henkell & Co. moved into its new headquarters in the independent town Biebrich. The Henkell Trocken brand was marketed very aggressively from 1900 to 1920, with large-format ads regularly appearing in publications like Jugend and Simplicissimus. Artists commissioned to design ads for the campaign included Thomas Theodor Heine, Ernst Oppler, Lucian Bernhard, and . The Henkell headquarters was also depicted in several full-page advertisements in Lucian Bernhard's signature style.
Otto Henkell and Ludwig Stollwerck are widely considered to be the inventors of joint advertising, a strategy they deployed starting around 1900. It was the first time marketing activities were jointly developed and funded by multiple companies within a single industry.
Joachim von Ribbentrop married into the Henkell family on 5 July 1920 by marrying Otto Henkell's daughter Anneliese. Otto Henkell then entrusted Ribbentrop with the establishment and management of the Berlin branch of Henkell & Co.
In 1935, Henkell & Co. pioneered and patented the “Pikkolo” brand. The “black gentleman” (Schwarzer Herr) silhouette design debuted on the Henkell Trocken label in 1936 and for many years was its distinctive insignia.
National Socialism
Joachim von Ribbentrop became Germany's foreign minister under Hitler in 1938; in this position he ordered the deportation and killing of thousands of Jews, specifically in the Italian occupied zone in Croatia. The Henkell estate in Wiesbaden served as a headquarter of the German air force (Luftwaffe) from 1939 to 1945. During the Nazi era, the Henkell company used around 50 French prisoners of war for its wine and champagne production. The company denied access to their private archives until 2019.