Grimm & Triepel Kruse-Kautabak

Grimm & Triepel Kruse-Kautabak is a German chewing-tobacco brand with roots going back to June 1849, when the merchant Theodor Grimm opened a tobacco factory in Nordhausen am Harz. The business produced cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff, but specialised early in chewing tobacco. In 1858 Adolf Triepel became a partner and gave his name to the firm. In 1881, having no heirs, the owners sold the company to Otto Kruse, whose family expanded it into what was regarded before the Second World War as the largest chewing-tobacco factory in Europe, employing up to 1,800 people at its Nordhausen base and branches and producing roughly 65 million packets a year. After the Second World War the Kruse family was expropriated and the company nationalised. The family moved to Unterrieden an der Werra, where a branch had existed, and rebuilt the chewing-tobacco factory there. From 1961 the firm also began producing plastic bottles because chewing-tobacco sales were declining. Over the following decades demand for chewing tobacco collapsed almost entirely, and Grimm & Triepel took over many other chewing-tobacco makers and their product portfolios, including Fischer & Herwig, Hanewacker of Nordhausen (1817–1975), Hansen, Nessinger, Schrimper and Wahrer Jakob. German reunification briefly brought new markets in eastern Germany after the GDR's chewing-tobacco production in Nordhausen was taken over and closed by Reemtsma, leaving Grimm & Triepel as the only chewing-tobacco manufacturer in Germany. Production ceased at the beginning of December 2016 and the company was sold to Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG. The factory was converted into a chewing-tobacco museum. For a time Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb produced chewing tobaccos under the Grimm & Triepel brand, but that company's business operations ended on 31 December 2021. Since January 2022 chewing tobacco under the Grimm & Triepel brand has been distributed by Andreas Hartmann GmbH & Co. KG. The brand therefore survives as a traditional German chewing-tobacco label rather than as an independent manufacturer.

The company was founded in June 1849 when the merchant Theodor Grimm opened a factory for tobacco goods of all kinds in Nordhausen am Harz. Production covered cigars and smoking tobaccos as well as chewing and snuff tobacco, but the business specialised in chewing tobacco shortly after its foundation. In 1858 Adolf Triepel became a partner and co-name-giver of the chewing-tobacco manufacturer. In 1881 the owners sold the company to Otto Kruse because they had no heirs. Kruse and his sons expanded the business, which before the Second World War employed up to 1,800 people at its Nordhausen headquarters and many branches. Grimm & Triepel was thus regarded as the largest chewing-tobacco factory in Europe, producing about 65 million packets of chewing tobacco in various forms each year. After the Second World War the Kruse family was expropriated and the company nationalised. The family moved to Unterrieden an der Werra, where a branch of their business existed, and rebuilt their chewing-tobacco factory there. In 1961 the company began producing plastic bottles alongside chewing tobacco, because chewing-tobacco sales were declining after the war and a second pillar was needed. In the following period chewing-tobacco sales collapsed almost completely, and Grimm & Triepel took over many other chewing-tobacco manufacturers and their product portfolios (Fischer & Herwig, Hanewacker of Nordhausen (1817–1975), Hansen, Nessinger, Schrimper, Wahrer Jakob). German reunification temporarily brought the company new sales markets in eastern Germany, because the GDR's chewing-tobacco production in Nordhausen was taken over and closed by Reemtsma. Grimm & Triepel thus remained the only chewing-tobacco manufacturer in Germany. At the beginning of December 2016 production was stopped and the company was sold to Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG. The factory was converted into a chewing-tobacco museum. In the meantime, chewing tobaccos were again produced under the Grimm & Triepel brand by Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG. The business operations of Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG were discontinued as of 31 December 2021. Since January 2022 chewing tobacco under the Grimm & Triepel brand has been distributed by Andreas Hartmann GmbH & Co. KG.

• 2022

  From January, chewing tobacco under the Grimm & Triepel brand is distributed by Andreas Hartmann GmbH & Co. KG.

• 2021

  Business operations of Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG end on 31 December.

• 2016

  Production ceases in early December; company sold to Günter Hartmann Tabakvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG; factory becomes a chewing-tobacco museum.

• 1961

  Production of plastic bottles begins alongside chewing tobacco.

• 1881

  The company is sold to Otto Kruse.

• 1858

  Adolf Triepel becomes a partner and co-name-giver.

• 1849

  Theodor Grimm opens a tobacco factory in Nordhausen am Harz.

Traditional German chewing-tobacco brand, historically the largest chewing-tobacco factory in Europe and for a period the only chewing-tobacco manufacturer in Germany.

• Chewing tobacco

• Snuff

• Cigars

• Smoking tobacco

• Plastic bottles

1. 1Grimm & Triepel Kruse-Kautabakwikidata.org
2. 2Grimm & Triepel Kruse-Kautabakde.wikipedia.org