Carl Tchilinghiryan, Max Herz and Tchibo coffee

The left photograph shows a man in a suit and tie holding a folder marked “Tchilings”; on the right an elderly man holds a coffee cup and raises his index finger.

The German entrepreneur Carl Tchilinghiryan was born on 27 February 1910 in Hamburg into the Armenian family of Karapet and Erna Tchilinghiryan. He traded in dried fruit, dates, cocoa, figs and tea. Together with the coffee importer Max Herz he roasted coffee, packed it in tin cans with small gifts and sent it by post. In 1949 they founded a company whose name was later simplified to Tchibo: “Tchi” comes from Tchilinghiryan’s surname and “bo” from the German word for “beans”.

Years later disagreements arose between the partners. Falling into debt, Tchilinghiryan gradually lost his share, which Herz bought. Carl Tchilinghiryan died in 1987 and is buried in Hamburg’s Ohlsdorf Cemetery. Today Tchibo belongs to the Herz family.