Opekta was a German

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

and spice company that existed between 1928 and 1995. It is notable for its Dutch operation being based in the building at ' that later became the

Anne Frank House The Anne Frank House () is a writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Judaism, Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in Amsterdam-Centrum, central Amst ...

. Opekta was based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and expanded into the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1933, at which time Otto Frank moved from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 ...

to become managing director of the new Dutch operation. Otto Frank was in charge of the manufacturing and distribution of the pectin-based gelling preparations, to be used in jam making. The company continued to trade from the same building while Frank, his family (including his youngest daughter Anne Frank) and several other Jews hid from persecution stemming from the

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 ...

Occupation of the Netherlands during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The Opekta company was based in

, Germany, founded and owned by the Austrian chemists Robert Feix and Richard Fackeldey. * 1933: The German businessman Otto Frank, then still residing in Germany, was appointed to aid their expansion into the Netherlands. Frank had already considered moving his family to the Netherlands following the election of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the rise of Nazism, so he accepted the post and moved alone to Amsterdam to find premises for the company. He had briefly managed a large rival firm, Pomosin, which traded pectin to factories from the Dutch town of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

but decided that retail trade would be more lucrative in the Dutch market than wholesale. His franchise for the Amsterdam branch of Opekta was established in September 1933. In December 1933, his wife, Edith Frank-Holländer, found an apartment for the family on Merwedeplein in southern Amsterdam. * 1934: The company became too cramped and moved to the Amsterdam address of 400 Singel. It moved once again to new premises located at 263

Prinsengracht The Prinsengracht is a -long canal that runs parallel to the Keizersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The canal, named after the Prince of Orange, is the fourth of the four main canals belonging to the Grachtengordel, canal belt. History Const ...

. Victor Kugler, an ex-colleague from Pomosin, came on board almost immediately to help run the company. The workforce was small - apart from a junior clerk, the only other employee was a secretary, who left a few months after the company started trading. She was replaced by Miep Gies, whose duties extended from the secretarial to

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

. * 1938: Gies appeared in a promotional film to promote the Opekta product, which was used to demonstrate to consumers how easy it was to use in cooking. That year, they were joined by two other employees, Hermann van Pels as an herb specialist and Johannes Kleiman as a bookkeeper.

Bep Voskuijl Elisabeth "Bep" Voskuijl (; 5 July 1919 – 6 May 1983) was a resident of Amsterdam who helped conceal Anne Frank and her family from Nazism, Nazi persecution during the occupation of the Netherlands. In the early versions of ''Het Achterhuis' ...

, who had been the administration manager when the war broke out, had been taken on in the previous year, 1937. * 1940: After the arrival of the German occupiers, the company was re-registered under the name of Victor Kugler to prevent it from being confiscated as a Jewish-owned business. Frank remained in charge but in secret. * 1941: The company was renamed Gies & Co. and Frank resigned as they were forced into hiding in the secret annex within the building. * 1942: Frank continued as a silent partner in the company. Their two-year confinement, aided by Kleiman, Kugler, Gies and Voskuijl, was famously chronicled by Frank's youngest daughter, Anne, in an autobiographical work, ''

The Diary of a Young Girl ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', commonly referred to as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch language, Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Neth ...

'', published posthumously in 1947. * 1953: Frank retired as director of Opekta and was succeeded by Kleiman until he died in 1959. * 1954: The building at 263 Prinsengracht was sold to developers and Opekta was given notice to vacate the premises. Anne Frank's diary had drawn readers to visit the premises by this time and a successful campaign saved the building from

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

. * 1955: Opekta left the building in 1955 * 1960: The building re-opened as the Anne Frank House, a museum dedicated to the life and writings of Anne Frank. * 1995:

Dr. Oetker Dr. Oetker () is a German multinational company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, Pizza#Preparation, frozen pizza, pudding, cake decoration, cornflakes, birthday candles, beer, and various other products. The company is a wholly owned b ...

acquired the company in August.

References

Sources

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External links

Otto Frank's businesses on the Anne Frank web site
{{Anne Frank Anne Frank Companies based in Amsterdam Manufacturing companies based in Cologne Food and drink companies established in 1928 1928 establishments in Germany Food and drink companies disestablished in 1995 1995 mergers and acquisitions