The Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Goncharov keeps a bottle of the famous perfume LA SURPRISE/No. 4711.
The perfume bottle is tightly closed with a glass stopper, and the neck is decorated with a small bow. The front side of the bottle features a label with the inscription: LA SURPRISE/No. 4711/FERD. MÜLHENS/COLOGNE. RIGA. The perfume box is silver-gray, made in the Art Nouveau style characteristic of the early 20th century and decorated with an embossed stylized floral pattern and a vignette along the contour.
In the history of perfumery, Mülhens Сompany is known for 4711 Original Eau de Cologne. According to a legend, on October 8, 1792, on his wedding day, merchant Wilhelm Mülhens received a secret recipe of a so-called “aqua mirabilis”, a “miracle water”, as a gift from a Carthusian monk. The water was originally used as a remedy for headaches and colds, and later evolved into a refreshing perfume. The enterprising merchant that he was, Wilhelm Mülchens began producing “water from Cologne” — an invention of the Cologne monks — in a reconstructed building that was located in Glockengasse. His products were called Echt Kölnisch Wasser; back then, the world had not heard about “Eau de Cologne” yet.
The history behind the number 4711 goes back to the Battle of Aldenhoven or the Battle of the Roer, which took place on October 2, 1794. On October 6, 1794, Cologne was occupied by French troops. The Security Committee ordered all citizens and non-citizens to be inventoried within 48 hours, as well as all houses to be numbered. Before that, the houses in the city were not numbered. French soldiers spent several weeks painting numbers on the facades. This is how the manufactory building was given the number 4711. During the period of the French occupation of Cologne, French soldiers sent “water from Cologne” to their homeland in barrels, of course, they called it Eau De Cologne, and that is how the new name came to be. In 1810, Napoleon issued an order requiring the discovery of the formula for the water from Cologne, but Wilhelm Mülchens refused to give up the secret.
In the 19th century, the Mülhens Сompany perfume factory was run by Wilhelm Mülhens’s grandson Ferdinand Mülhens. In 1881, he founded his own factory and started producing “Eau de Cologne & Parfümerie Fabrik Glockengasse” under the number 4711. As the owner of the 4711 brand, he received an imperial warrant and became the supplier of the imperial court.
