DE DIETRICH

De Dietrich is an Alsatian company with a centuries-old history. It was founded by Johann Von Dietrich, from Strasbourg, who bought an old forge in 1684. At the time, eastern France was part of the Holy Roman Empire. When Louis XIV annexed Alsace, Johann served the king faithfully, and his grandson Jean was knighted by Louis XV; his title enabled him to build an industrial empire among the ironmasters. Later, Louis XVI gave him a shield in the shape of a gold horn to protect him (already!) from counterfeiting. Jean De Dietrich was to make history again when he commissioned Captain Rouget de L'Isle to write a war song for the Army of the Rhine - the famous Marseillaise. In 1848, the De Dietrichs adapted to the emerging Industrial Revolution by transforming the forges into workshops for the construction of railway and mechanical equipment. After the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the De Dietrichs had to abandon the railway business to manufacture durable consumer goods (enamelled cast-iron stoves, cookers and baths) and urban and industrial equipment (trams, distilling machines). In 1896, the company diversified into car manufacturing under licence from Amédée Bollée, which it abandoned a few years later to move into household equipment.