Did you know that many items, which you are using daily and make your life comfortable, were invented in Saxony? On one side there are big innovations such as car engines and technology. But on the other side smaller innovations, which are just as important, were also invented in Saxony: the first daily newspaper, the coffee filter, tea bags, etc. More great examples are listed here.
World-renowned inventions made in Saxony
The bra comes from … Saxony!
Forget about the corset, it’s all about freedom of movement: In 1899, Christine Hardt started an underwear revolution in Dresden when she registered the first German patent for a "woman's bodice as a breast support". With her adjustable model made of knotted handkerchiefs and braces, she is considered one of the inventors of the bra. Her forerunner of the modern bra displaced the tight corset – to the delight of many women.
Mouthwash made in Dresden
This is the story of three Dresden locals, two ground-breaking inventions and a great victory for oral hygiene: In 1892, the chemist Richard Seifert invented mouthwash. His friend Karl August Lingner started marketing the formula as "Odol". Apart from tooth powder, mouthwash was the only oral hygiene option at that time. However, in 1907, Dresden pharmacist Ottomar Heinsius von Mayenburg came up with the ingenious idea for "Chlorodont", the world's first toothpaste. He successfully promoted his invention with advertisements, posters and signs and soon the novel toothpaste was literally on everyone's lips.
Tip: Visit the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden and learn all kinds of interesting details about personal care.
Dresden’s coffee revolutionary
In the past, coffee was brewed by hand with hot water which led to coffee grounds being stuck between teeth and a bitter aftertaste. Thank god for Melitta Benz who, back in 1908, did not want to put up with that. Using a hammer and nails, the Dresden local pierced the bottom of a brass pot and placed blotting paper from her sons' exercise books on top. She placed the pot on a jug – and the first coffee filter was born. The inventive lady then went on to have the term Filtertüte (filter bag) protected, founded her company Melitta and the rest is history, as they say…
Tip: Check out the coffee museum in Ebersbach-Neugersdorf with its adjacent coffee roastery where you can sample different varieties!
For true chocoholics
The two entrepreneurs Jordan and Timaeus not just opened the first chocolate manufactory of Germany in Dresden, but they also invented milk chocolate. Only 2007 a research team found prove through an old sales advertisement from 1823 that was offering chocolate made with donkey milk- 30 years before the first milk chocolate from Switzerland was produced. Donkey milk was a lot more common than cow's milk, but only available at certain times. Hence at some stage luckily donkey milk was replaced by cow's milk, which was available all year around.
Tip: Discover more about Saxony and chocolate at the chocolate museum in Dresden.
