The accordion was actually designed in Berlin in 1822. Photo: Flickr.com, Janelle
SPECIAL THEME: MADE IN GERMANY
The history of ‘Made in Germany’ Despite widespread belief, the ‘Made in Germany’ label is not actually a German invention. Rather, it was an idea that came out of Great Britain. TEXT: NANE STEINHOFF
Weihenstephan beer: one of Germany’s oldest. Photo: Flickr.com, OE3BLS
Did you know that the ‘Made in Germany’ label is over 129 years old and that it was actually an idea invented in Great Britain? To be precise, Great Britain introduced the label in 1887 when it passed a law forcing foreign companies to make the origins of their products clear. Apparently, several German companies had copied British products, and Great Britain wanted to keep these German products from gaining more popularity than the British products domestically, by labelling exactly where they came from, in the hope that the British would instead support their own. However, this has over time worked in the favour of German brands, as the ‘Made in
11 | Issue 89 | January 2022
January 2022 | Issue 89 | 11
