Koninklijke (, Dutch language, Dutch for 'royal') is an Title of honor, honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Lou ...

Theodorus Niemeyer BV (Royal Theodorus Niemeyer Ltd.) is a Dutch

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

company. The company is currently part of the multinational

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

(BAT).

History

Koninklijke Theodorus Niemeyer BV has been a family-run business for a long period with origins from the trade in products from the Dutch

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

. Meindert Niemeyer started the trading-business on 25 March 1819. The company sold products from the colonies, including tobacco (brandname ''Wapen van Rotterdam'' or Arms of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

). When son Theodorus Niemeyer took over the business they started producing and selling different brands, both under their own name and also supplying other companies (such as

De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, owner also of Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's Bro ...

). The company then also started selling other goods from the colonies such as

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. In the 20th century, the company grew by acquiring other tobacco-companies in the city of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, and they also started looking to overseas markets. When the company celebrated its 150th birthday they received the title "Royal" (Koninklijk). Until 1990 the company was completely independent, but in that year the company became part of

Rothmans International Rothmans International PLC was a British tobacco manufacturer. Its brands included Rothmans, Player's and Dunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street, London and its international operations were run from Denham Place in Denham ...

. In 1999 the Rothmans merged with British American Tobacco. Koninklijke Theodorus Niemeyer BV is currently a subsidiary of BAT. However, the factory is still located in the city of Groningen.

Tobacco museum

Until 1 January 2011 the city housed the Niemeyer Tobacco-

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

as part of the ''Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum'' (the Northern Shipping Museum). In 2010, it was decided to close the tobacco museum, as Niemeyer was withdrawing their funding for it seeing it unfit with BAT's policies for the future of the company. Without their funding it was not feasible to keep it open. The

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

of the museum would be split up: articles that the museum had received as a gift or were on loan from people would be (as much as possible) returned. Other important pieces would become part of the (own) collection of the shipping-museum or go to other museums. Most of the then remaining items would be sold at an

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The few articles that would remain are kept in the

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

s of the shipping-museum for safe-keeping.

Products and brands

Koninklijke Theodorus Niemeyer BV produces (or produced in the past) a wide range of different brands. These include:Brandlist based o
historic website of the company
website version of February, 2003. Retrieved: 1 July 2012 via the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

es: Schimmelpenninck, Corps Diplomatique, Westpoint, Javai, Don Pablo, Dunhill *

Pipe tobacco A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simpl ...

: Sail Troost, Neptune, Voortrekker, Clan, Art Enjoy, Dunhill, Royal Mixture, Indian Summer, Schippers, Captain Black, Stanwell, Erinmore, Edgeworth, Danske Club, Blanke Baai, Rode Ster, Flying Dutchman, Niemeyer *

Shag Shag or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family Persons * Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...

: Samson, Pall Mall Export, Javaanse Jongens, Schwarzer Krauser (Black Curly), Jakobs, Caballero Mild, Twin, Canuma, Gruno, Hoboken, 50 Miles, American Star, Dragon Special, Sterling, El Rey Mild, Goldstar,

Gauloises Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of France, French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 ...

, Bizon, Cutters Choice

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koninklijke Theodorus Niemeyer BV Tobacco brands British American Tobacco Tobacco companies of the Netherlands