In 1907 the Deutscher Werkbund was founded in Munich at the instigation of Hermann Muthesius. Peter Behrens and Richard Riemerschmid were among its founders. Its motto was Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau, from the sofa cushion to city building. The Werkbund wanted good design for everyday products. A 2014 exhibition at the Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge in Berlin described the aim. Good design would make Made in Germany a seal of quality and raise the export power of the German Empire.
What the Label Promises
German courts judge the label Made in Germany under the ban on misleading advertising and ask what buyers understand by the label. Since a ruling of the Federal Court of Justice in 1973, the test has been the maßgebliche Herstellungsvorgang, the decisive manufacturing process in which the goods receive their defining qualities. That process must take place in Germany. In 2014 the Higher Regional Court of Hamm ruled on condoms made from blanks produced abroad. They were moistened in some cases, packed, sealed and checked in Arnstadt in Thuringia, and the court ruled that they could not be advertised as made in Germany. In 2011 the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled on knives made in China and only polished in Germany. Die bloße Endbearbeitung reichte dafür nicht aus. Final finishing alone was not enough.
The Label of 1887
On August 23, 1887, the British Parliament passed the Merchandise Marks Act. Foreign goods sold in Britain and its colonies, German goods above all, had to be marked with their origin. Until then, products from Germany had been considered billig, schlecht und nicht sehr haltbar, cheap, bad and not very durable. As German quality improved, the label soon stopped being a stigma. It became eine Auszeichnung, a mark of distinction.