Melitta Bentz and the Coffee Filter

Melitta Bentz and the Coffee Filter

Author: iHeartPodcasts February 23, 2026 Duration: 39:23

Melitta Bentz invented the coffee filter in 1908 and changed coffee culture forever. Through the decades and after reckoning with its relationship with the Third Reich, the company she founded in her Dresden apartment endures today.

Research:

  • “The Weimar Republic 1918-1929 - EdexcelChanges in society, 1924–29.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9y64j6/revision/8#:~:text=Hourly%20wages%20rose%20in%20real,crisis%2C%20such%20as%20the%20hyperinflation
  • DEUTSCHES REICH REICHSPATENTAMТ PATENTSCHRIFT. “Melitta-Werke Akt.-Ges. in Minden, Westf. Filterpapiereinsatz für Kaffeeaufbrühfilter u. dgl.” https://www.dpma.de/docs/dpma/veroeffentlichungen/de653796a_melitta1937.pdf
  • German Patent and Trademark Office. “The invention of the coffee filters.” https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/ingeniouswomen/110jahrekaffeefilter/index.html
  • “The History of Leipziger Messe.” https://www.leipziger-messe.de/en/company/portrait/history/
  • KOSSACK, KRISTAN. “Betriebsalltag und Unternehmensentwicklung eines NS-Musterbetriebs im Spiegel seiner Werkzeitung.” Westfälische Zeitschrift 155. 2005. http://www.westfaelische-zeitschrift.lwl.org
  • “Melitta Bentz - the woman who invented the coffee filter.” Europeana. https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/melitta-bentz-the-woman-who-invented-the-coffee-filter
  • “Melitta Bentz KG - coffee filter.” Deutsches-Kunststoff Museum. https://www.deutsches-kunststoff-museum.de/sammlung/virtuelles-museum/k-2002-00982/
  • Morris, Jonathan. “Coffee: A Global History.” Reaktion Books. 2019.
  • Moses, Claire. “Overlooked No More: Melitta Bentz, Who Invented the Coffee Filter.” New York Times. Sept. 5, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/obituaries/melitta-bentz-overlooked.html
  • “Our History.” Melitta Group. https://www.melitta-group.com/en/unternehmen/unsere-geschichte
  • Wierling, Dorothee. “Coffee.” International Encyclopedia of the First World War. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/coffee/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Podcast Episodes
Charles Sumner Revisited (part 3) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:50
The third installment of our Charles Sumner episode covers how, two days after Charles Sumner delivered an incendiary speech before the senate, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina came into the Senate chamber…
SYMHC Classics: Public Universal Friend [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:07
This 2020 episode covers the Public Universal Friend, who described themself as a genderless spirit sent by God to inhabit the resurrected body of a woman named Jemima Wilkinson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i…
Behind the Scenes Minis: Morocco! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:12
Tracy and Holly talk about their recent podcast trip to Morocco with listeners, arranged by Defined Destinations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charles Sumner, Revisited (part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:49
The second installment of our episode on Charles Sumner picks up in the wake of his controversial antiwar speech. He next argued a school integration case before the Massachusetts supreme judicial court.
Charles Sumner, Revisited (part 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:52
The first installment of the deeper examination of Charles Sumner's life begins with his early years, including his close relationships with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Samuel Gridley Howe.
SYMHC Classics: Thomas Cook [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:33
This 2019 episode covers Thomas Cook, a pioneer of the idea of a travel agency to manage tourist holidays. But Cook was initially motivated by his support of the temperance movement and his deeply held religious beliefs.…
Behind the Scenes Minis: Balloons and Cat Trees [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:47
Tracy and Holly talk about the proclivity for destruction that was part of the balloon craze. They also discuss cat trees and how hard it is to find one that's cute. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Inventions for Pets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:12
Cat litter, it could be argued, kicked off the pet products industry. After its invention in the 1940s, other inventors started to come up with products that today are standard in the homes of people with pets.
Balloon Riots [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:44
Ballooning became a huge fad starting in the late 18th century, and there was a surprising amount of rioting associated with it. Fervor, excitement, and intoxication in some instances, meant that balloon events were pron…
SYMHC Classics: Georgia Gold Rush [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:38
This 2018 episode covers the period in the late 1820s when north Georgia became the site of a gold rush that predated the California gold rush by two decades. It's also tied to some of the darkest parts of U.S. history r…