Melitta Bentz - the woman who invented the coffee filter

If you are a coffee drinker, you have most likely tried filter coffee. Enthusiasts of this way of brewing appreciate it for its clean, clear and consistent flavour. Make yourself a nice cup of coffee and read the story of the inventor of the coffee filter Melitta Bentz. This is a story about persistence, solving problems through trial and error and women's entrepreneurship in the early 20th century.

A quest for a more enjoyable cup of coffee

Amalie Auguste Melitta Liebscher was born on 31 January 1873 in Dresden into a family of entrepreneurs. Her father was a publisher and a bookseller, and her grandparents owned a brewery.

At the end of the 1890s, she fell in love and married Johannes Emil Hugo Bentz, a small business owner. We don't know much about her education. She was a housewife, ran a household and took care of her husband and their children: two sons, Willy and Horst, and daughter Herta.

We also know that Melitta started her days with a cup of coffee, which left her with a bitter taste on her lips. Or with grounds in her mouth. The standard brewing methods in her time were porcelain percolators or fabric filters. These produced over-brewed coffee that often contained grounds floating in the cup. This was a shared experience the rest of the world accepted - but not Melitta.

She knew there must be a way to create a clear and flavourful cup of coffee. So she decided to find it. That’s how she started her quest for a more enjoyable cup of coffee through trial and error, testing all kinds of materials and techniques. One day, she came up with a solution which produced a clean and tasty brew.

From a school notebook to a patent bulletin

The material that helped Melitta Bentz obtain a particle-free brew was blotting paper from her eldest son's school notebook. She pierced holes in the bottom of a brass pot and put the paper over it. She was happy with the taste of the coffee prepared this way.

She showed her discovery to her friends. Encouraged by their enthusiasm and aware of the great potential of her idea, she decided to bring her invention to the market and filed for a patent.

On 20 June 1908, the Imperial Patent Office granted her utility model protection for her round filter with prefabricated filter paper. The patent was officially published in the “Patentblatt” (patent bulletin) in July 1908.

Growing a thriving family business

Melitta started her company 'M. Bentz' in a room of her family's apartment with a starting capital of 72 pfennigs. Melitta's husband and sons were the company's first employees.

The business flourished and within a few years received a gold medal at the International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden. The apartment became too small for the thriving company. It moved to new headquarters in Dresden and started hiring employees beyond family members.

During World War I, paper became a scarce commodity and the import of coffee beans was banned by the German government. The production of filters had to be put on hold: Melitta decided to start producing cardboard boxes in order to survive. She ran the business all by herself as her husband was called to duty.

When the war was over, the production of filters resumed and the company started to quickly expand again. In 1925, Melitta launched its typical red and green packs to make the brand easy to recognise and to protect itself from numerous imitators. In the 1930s, the company’s ownership was passed to Melitta's two sons.

Today, it is still a family business. Over time, it has become a global company - all from the experiments of Melitta Bentz.