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There's quite a few in Germany. The most famous one is probably Merck (1668). There's a couple of really old banks (Berenberg Bank in Hamburg, 1590) and the ind
by kriro 4y ago
There's quite a few in Germany. The most famous one is probably Merck (1668). There's a couple of really old banks (Berenberg Bank in Hamburg, 1590) and the industry with the most old companies is probably the glas industry. There's a couple of companies from the 15xx and 16xx. If you're into hiking, you probably heard about Meindl shoes (1683).
There's also a lot of breweries, especially small ones in Frankonia. And if you count wineries and restaurants there's some really old ones. Staffelter Hof is usually mentioned as the oldest one (862).
Pretty sure it's the same in most European countries. My guess would be the oldest ones are located in Italy.
- hedgehog 4y agoWikipedia has a list (of course), it's pretty interesting to read: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies
- hulahoof 4y agoIt’s somewhat sad to read that after 1430 years being family run the oldest company on this list went into liquidation in 2006 and was acquired
- cschmidt 4y agoThe continuity of family companies in Japan also comes from the practice of adult adoption, when the family line doesn't have a suitable successor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_adult_adoption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_adult_adoption
- kridsdale2 4y agoI read that this legal technique has also been used in Japan as a proxy for Gay Marriage.
- ajb 4y agoMost of the oldest UK ones are pubs, which perhaps says something about British culture.
- hedgehog 4y agoOr the durability of the value proposition and ability to keep a sufficient number of people interested in keeping the establishment open. Maybe something about the economics of commercial real estate and tax policy in England help survival during downturns.
- eloff 4y agoA German friend phrased it this way for Americans: We have beers older than your country. The depth of history and culture in Europe never ceased to amaze me while I was travelling there, especially in Greece and Italy. I grew up on the prairies in Canada, there was pretty much nothing there 120 years ago.
- trgn 4y agoAt the same time, USA has the oldest constitution, and east coast cities for all intents and purposes are 250 years old. If Europe's imperial capitals are essentially 19th century inventions, so are America's (Paris, NYC, Barcelona, Philadelphia, ... all ballooned to their dominant feel during the same decades). The biggest difference is that the brand that the USA is not old or has little heritage, has been along for so long that Americans and Europeans alike have internalized it. But in 2022, America _is_ an old country, and does have a lineage that stretches way back, all the way to antiquity why not.
- relaxing 4y agoJust because the US happened to be founded in the Age of Enlightenment that doesn't magically grant us heritage back to antiquity. And the argument isn't about the size of cities or political organization. But for reference, Philadelphia in 1790 had population 28k. That's on par with Paris around year 0 in the Roman era, or roughly year 1100 as the city recovered in the middle ages.
- hattmall 4y agoWould any of these have been the same people? Like is it conceivable the same family lineage in Paris 0-1100, or even 2k years to now or would the war, conquest, etc have changed the demographics considerably?
- relaxing 4y agoLineage in terms of common ancestor and shared DNA? Of course. It’s pretty rare for invasions to result in the wholesale slaughter and replacement of a population.