Founders from Germany
Krug, Bollinger, Heidsieck, Mumm: Germans in Champagne
Several famous champagne houses were founded by Germans: Heidsieck in 1785 by a man from Westphalia, Mumm in 1827 by the sons of a Cologne wine merchant, Bollinger in 1829 by a man from Ellwangen, Krug in 1843 by a man from Mainz. The houses have long since become French, their names a reminder of this origin.
Why Did Germans Go to Champagne?
In the 18th and 19th centuries, champagne was above all an export commodity. It was bought at courts and in trading cities across Europe, in the German states, in Scandinavia, and in Russia. Anyone wanting to sell it needed language skills, connections, and experience in long-distance trade. Young merchants from the Rhineland and other German regions brought exactly that. Many came to Reims and Épernay as employees or traveling salesmen and stayed.
The distances were shorter than they seem today. Only a few days' journey separated the Rhine from Champagne, and the wine trade connected families on both sides. Knowledge also flowed back. Georg Christian Kessler worked at Veuve Clicquot in Reims before founding, on 1 July 1826 in Esslingen am Neckar, what is today the oldest still-existing German Sekt cellar. The history of German Sekt cellars is told in the themed journey on Sekt in Germany; here, it is the reverse path that matters.
Heidsieck and Mumm: Founders from Westphalia and Cologne
It began with Florens-Louis Heidsieck, a Westphalian who founded his house in Reims in 1785. From this origin, several firms emerged through inheritance divisions and new foundings. Today, three brands carry the name: Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck, and Heidsieck & Co Monopole. Anyone reading Heidsieck on a label should therefore take a closer look at which house is meant.
In 1827, the sons of the Cologne wine merchant P. A. Mumm founded the house in Reims that would later be known as G. H. Mumm. The family remained German for generations, and that proved their undoing in 1914. At the outbreak of war, Georges Hermann Mumm still held German citizenship. He was arrested along with other Germans in Reims, and the company was seized. In 1920 the firm in Reims went under the hammer and passed to a French company. The German Sekt brand called Mumm belongs to a different company altogether.
Bollinger and Deutz: founders from Ellwangen and Aachen
In Aÿ, a wine village on the Marne near Épernay, Joseph Jacob Placid Bollinger from Ellwangen in Württemberg founded his house on 6 February 1829, together with French partners. Bollinger remains family-owned to this day. The house builds its style heavily on Pinot Noir, the red grape that is vinified white in the Champagne region. More than a hundred years after its founding, Lily Bollinger steered the house through the German occupation.
Also in Aÿ, the house of Deutz was established in 1838. Its founders were William Deutz and Peter-Joseph-Hubert Geldermann, both from Aachen. The Geldermann name lives on in Germany. The Sektkellerei Geldermann in Breisach am Rhein traces its lineage to this origin, works exclusively with traditional bottle fermentation, and has belonged to Rotkäppchen-Mumm since 2003. Deutz in Aÿ is a Champagne house, Geldermann in Breisach a Sekt producer: same roots, two different origins.
Krug: from Mainz merchant to prestige brand
Johann-Joseph Krug came from Mainz and first learned the trade at another Champagne house before founding his own in Reims in 1843. His idea was a Champagne that would taste consistent year after year, regardless of the harvest. This is achieved by blending many wines from different sites and vintages. That philosophy still defines the house today. Since January 1999, Krug has belonged to the LVMH group.
These examples reveal a pattern. The founders brought capital, trade routes, and business acumen, while the grapes and prestige came from the region itself. Their houses quickly became French, often as early as the second generation. For Champagne, what matters to this day is only that the grapes come from the protected appellation, not the origin of the founder. A German-sounding name on the label therefore says nothing about German wine—it merely tells a piece of corporate history.