
Apollinaris is a naturally sparkling
mineral water
Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent).
Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...
from a spring in
Bad Neuenahr
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the capital of the Ahrweiler district. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. Formed by the merging of the ...
, Germany. Discovered in 1852, it was popularised in England and on the Continent and became the leading table-water of its time until about World War II. There are many references to it in high and popular culture. Today the brand is owned by Coca-Cola.
History
The spring was discovered by chance in 1852 in Georg Kreuzberg's vineyard, in Bad Neuenahr, Germany. He named it after St
Apollinaris of Ravenna
Apollinaris of Ravenna (; , ''Apollinarios'', Late Latin: ''Apolenaris'') is a Syrian saint, whom the Roman Martyrology describes as "a bishop who, according to tradition, while spreading among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ, led h ...
, a patron saint of wine. The water was drawn from a rocky source at a depth of .
In 1872
Ernest Hart, editor of the
British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...
, dined with
George Smith (a partner in the publishing firm
Smith, Elder & Co.) and recommended Apollinaris to Smith. in 1873 or 1874
Edward Steinkopff, a business partner of Smith, formed a subsidiary English company to sell the water in Britain . The Apollinaris Company Ltd. had offices at 4,
Stratford Place
Stratford Place is a small road in London, off Oxford Street, opposite Bond Street underground station. The road is a cul-de-sac.
Stratford House
Stratford House was built as the London town house of the Stratford family between 1770 and 177 ...
, London.
Steinkopff was chairman of the company during the period of its development, with Julius Prince as managing director. Apollinaris soon attained an unparalleled position, becoming the leading natural table-water in the world.
Smith later founded the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', and Steinkopff bought the ''
St James's Gazette
The ''St James's Gazette'' was a London evening newspaper published from 1880 to 1905. It was founded by the Conservative Henry Hucks Gibbs, later Baron Aldenham, a director of the Bank of England 1853–1901 and its governor 1875–1877; the ...
''.
It was
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...
's favourite mineral water.
The poet
Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent.
Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...
considered Apollinaris to be "his" mineral water, and once challenged the novelist
Max Daireaux to a duel for ridiculing him over his choice.
The red triangle symbol and the slogan "The Queen of Table Waters" were adopted as British trademarks in 1895. Steinkopff and his co-partners sold the business in 1897 to the hotelier
Frederick Gordon for nearly £2,000,000, (very approximately £260 million in 2020) receiving £1,500,000 (£200m) himself.
Julius Prince continued as managing director into the 20th century. One of the later directors of Apollinaris was George Alexander 'Pop' Hill, Mission chief of
Special Operation Executive in Moscow during WWII.
By 1913 the company was producing 40 million bottles a year, 90% of which were exported worldwide.
From the mid-1930s to 1945, the Apollinaris company in Germany was controlled by the ''Amt III'' ("third office"), a division of the
SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt
The SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (; SS-WVHA) was a Nazi organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects of the (a main branch of the ; SS). It also ran the Nazi concentration camps, concentr ...
''Amtsgruppe W'' in charge of the food industry in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. Along with other mineral waters—
Sudetenquell and
Mattoni
Mattoni 1873 (known as Karlovarské minerální vody until 2019) is a Czech beverage company that bottles and distributes the Mattoni brand of mineral water as well as other beverages. Its headquarters are in the city of Karlovy Vary. The compan ...
—Apollinaris was bottled at the Rheinahr Glasfabrik bottling plant between
Sinzig
Sinzig is a town in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Rhine, about 5 km south-east of Remagen and 25 km south-east of Bonn, and it has approximately 20,000 inhabitants (2004).
...
and
Niederbreisig. also controlled by the
Allgemeine SS
The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autu ...
. The factory, founded in 1907 as a European subsidiary of the Owens Bottle Machine Company founded by the inventor
Michael Joseph Owens
Michael Joseph Owens (January 1, 1859 – December 27, 1923) was an inventor of machines to automate the production of glass bottles.
Early life and education
Owens was born on January 1, 1859, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, to Joseph Owe ...
, is now owned by Veba-Glas AG.
Today the source and the brand of Apollinaris belong to
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
, which acquired it from the multinational
Cadbury-Schweppes
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
in 2006.
Sports sponsorship
In the 1950s and 1960s, Apollinaris co-organised (with the Torck factories of
Deinze
Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...
, Belgium) the commercial beach games "Les Rois du Volant/De Koningen der Baan" on the Belgian coast.
Cultural references
In
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...
's ''
The Prime Minister'' (1876), the character of the
Duke of Omnium dines simply on "a beefsteak and a potato, with a glass of sherry and Apollinaris water".
Spenser Theyre Smith's short play ''A Case for Eviction'' (1883) features the comically increasing demands of an unseen houseguest, Major O'Golly, who at one point is said by the uneducated servant Mary to have requested "Polly Nary water" with his whiskey.
In ''
The Rise of Silas Lapham
''The Rise of Silas Lapham'' is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint bu ...
'' (1885) by
William Dean Howells
William Dean Howells ( ; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American Realism (arts), realist novelist, literary critic, playwright, and diplomat, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ...
, the Laphams attend a dinner party at the Coreys. After dinner, the men remain in the dining room smoking cigars, and one of the guests "reached him a bottle of Apollinaris," filling a glass for Silas. "He drank a glass, and then went on smoking."
The
Susan Coolidge
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905) was an American children's author who wrote under the pen name Susan Coolidge.
Background
Woolsey was born on January 29, 1835, into the wealthy, influential New England Dwight fam ...
book ''Clover'' (1888), part of the
Katy Series
Katy or KATY may refer to:
People and Characters
* Katy, a short form of the name Katherine
* Katy (given name)
* Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character
* Katy Perry
* Katie Perry, Australian fashion designer
* Katy Perry (pri ...
, mentions the water during a private train journey to Colorado: "'The car seems paved with bottles of Apollinaris and with lemons', wrote Katy to her father....'Just as surely as it grows warm and dusty, and we begin to remember that we are thirsty, a tinkle is heard, and Bayard appears with a tray, – iced lemonade, if you please, made with Apollinaris water with strawberries floating on top! What do you think of that at thirty miles an hour?'"
In Act I of
Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
's play ''
Widowers' Houses
''Widowers' Houses'' (1892) was the first play by George Bernard Shaw to be staged. It premièred on 9 December 1892 at the Royalty Theatre, under the auspices of the Independent Theatre Society — a subscription club, formed to escape t ...
'' (1892), the English tourist Sartorius is shocked that there is a church in Germany called Apollinaris, thinking they have named it after the mineral water.
In ''
What Maisie Knew
''What Maisie Knew'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in '' The Chap-Book'' and (revised and abridged) in the ''New Review'' in 1897 and then as a book later that year. It tells the story of the sensitive daughter of divo ...
'' by
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
(1897) (chapter 19), Maisie and her stepfather, in a coffee-room at lunch-time, partake of cold beef and apollinaris.
The
Edward Noyes Westcott
Edward Noyes Westcott (September 27, 1846 – March 31, 1898) was an American banker and author, best known as the author of ''David Harum''.
Biography
Edward Noyes Westcott was born on September 27, 1846, in Syracuse, New York. His father wa ...
book ''
David Harum
''David Harum; A Story of American Life'' is a best-selling novel of 1898 by Edward Noyes Westcott.
Literary significance and criticism
Written by retired Syracuse, New York banker Edward Noyes Westcott, the work was rejected by six publish ...
'' (1898) portrays a dithering, semi-invalid character, Julius Carling. Faced with decisions about what to drink, he considers Apollinaris water. On one occasion he decides to have it, but one of his caregivers, Miss Blake, for devious reasons of her own has ordered champagne instead.
In Swedish author
Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg (2 July 1869 – 14 October 1941) was a Swedish novelist, short story writer, playwright and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stoc ...
's short story "Spleen" (1898), two men dining in a small country inn step outside for a last drink, taking with them a bottle of whisky and some Apollinaris.
The
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
novel, ''
Three Men on the Bummel
''Three Men on the Bummel'' (also known as ''Three Men on Wheels'') is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, ''Three Men in a Boat''.
The sequel brings back the three companio ...
'' (1900) contains a description of the product: “There is Apollinaris water which, I believe, with a little lemon squeezed into it, is practically harmless."
"Scotch and Polly" is a comic song written by
E. W. Rogers
Edward William Rogers (1864– 21 February 1913) was an English songwriter for music hall performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Biography
He was born in Newington, London, and in the 1880s started appearing on the music hall stage ...
popularised in 1900 by
Vesta Tilley
Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...
. The title is a reference to the drink (Scotch whisky and Apollinaris water) or, by a deliberate ambiguity, a Scotswoman named Polly who steals the male protagonist's valuables.
Short story author
O. Henry
William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...
references Apollinaris in different stories including "The Social Triangle" (1907), "The Lost Blend" (1907) and "The Unprofitable Servant" (1912).
''
The Lost World'' by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
(1912) includes, in Chapter 9, the passage: "We supped and camped at the very edge of the cliff, quenching our thirst with two bottles of Apollinaris, which were in one of the cases."

In the eyewitness account published in 1912 of his voyage on the
RMS ''Titanic'', passenger
Frank Browne refers to a bottle of Apollinaris Water on the dining table in the First Class Dining Saloon.
The water receives a brief mention in the short story "
Counterparts
Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to:
Entertainment and literature
* "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce
* Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival
* ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama
* ''Counter ...
" by
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
, included in his collection ''
Dubliners
''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.
The stories were writ ...
'' (1914): "Farrington stood a drink all round. Weathers said he would take a small Irish and Apollinaris. Farrington, who had definite notions of what was what, asked the boys would they have an Apollinaris too."
During World War I, rival manufacturer
Perrier
Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of bottled water marketed as coming from its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard '' département''. Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acqu ...
ran an advertisement urging people to drink their French water, rather than that of their German rival.
José Maria de Eça de Queirós
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...
''The Capital'' (1925) includes the following passage: "Then he became very affable with Arthur; offered him of his Apollinaris water to mix with the wine, gave him news about the little dog: it had arrived perfectly well, it was the joy of the girls! A darling!"
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy.
Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...
' novel ''
The 42nd Parallel'' (1930) includes the line "Morton stood sleekhaired between them with a tray on which were decanters, tall glasses full of ice and some open splits of Apollinaris."
Dorothy L. Sayers' short story "Sleuths on the Scent", in the collection ''
Hangman's Holiday
''Hangman's Holiday'' is a collection of short stories, mostly murder mysteries, by Dorothy L. Sayers. This collection, the ninth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, was first published by Gollancz in 1933, and has been reprinted a number of time ...
'' (1933), includes the line "...in the commercial room at the Pig and Pewter....a young man and a girl in motor-cycling kit were whispering together at another table over a whisky-and-polly and a glass of port."
In
E. F. Benson
Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer.
Early life
E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshire, ...
's novel ''
Lucia's Progress
''Lucia's Progress'' (published in the US as ''The Worshipful Lucia'') is a 1935 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fifth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social ...
'' (1935), the character Lucia discovers a fragment of glass marked with the letters "Apol", and concludes that the remains of a
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...
lie beneath her garden. She subsequently finds the rest of the bottle, which supplies the full inscription "Apollinaris", and promptly ceases her excavations.
In the UK and Ireland, Apollinaris was sold in small bottles, which were marketed as "The Baby 'Polly". In the
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...
film comedy ''
My Learned Friend
''My Learned Friend'' is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden with his regular collaborator, Will Hay, as the film's star in the role of William Fitch. The principal supporting roles were taken by Claude Hulb ...
'' (1943), bumbling barrister Mr. Babbington (
Claude Hulbert
Claude Noel Hulbert (25 December 1900 – 23 January 1964) was a mid-20th century English stage, radio and cinema comic actor.
Early life
Claude Hulbert was born in Fulham in West London on Christmas Day 1900. He was the younger brother of J ...
) orders a "Baby 'Polly" in a disreputable café in
Stepney
Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...
.
The poem "Sun and Fun" by Sir
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...
, published in 1954, includes the stanza:
In the French film, ''
A Monkey in Winter'' (1962; directed by
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil (; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International F ...
), some men drinking in a bar try to remember the name of a poet, whose verses a former friend (said to be pretentious) always used to quote. They remember only that the name sounded like that of a mineral water, and they eventually agree on Apollinaris. The poet was in fact
Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish descent.
Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early ...
, who is indeed quoted by the main character in the film.
In the film ''
American Psycho
''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...
'' (2000), Patrick Bateman, played by
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. List of awards and nominations received by C ...
, offers Detective Kimball (
Willem Dafoe
William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...
) a bottle of Apollinaris, which he politely tries to refuse. Bateman insists, also offering a lime.
The German language documentary ''Hitlers Todesbrigaden'' (2010), made by
Andreas Novak, includes a
reenacted scene in which Apollinaris bottles appear prominently on a serving tray brought to
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
officers.
In the novel ''
The Peripheral
''The Peripheral'' is a 2014 science fiction mystery-thriller novel by William Gibson set in near- and post-apocalyptic versions of the future. The story focuses on a young rural-town American woman who lives in the near future, and on a Londo ...
'' (2014) by
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...
, the automatic minibar refuses to serve alcoholic drinks to Wilf Netherton and he is compelled to request Perrier. The minibar replies, "May I suggest Apollinaris water".
References
;Notes
;Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollinaris (Water)
Bottled water brands
Carbonated water
Coca-Cola brands
German brands
Mineral water