In 1908, Melitta Bentz, a 35-year-old woman from Dresden, Germany, invented the first coffee filter, receiving a patent registration for her "Filter Top Device lined with Filter Paper" from the Patent Office in Berlin on July 8. She founded the company bearing her name the same year.[4][5][6]
In the 1930s, Melitta revised the original filter, tapering it into the shape of a cone and adding ribs. This created a larger filtration area, allowing for improved extraction of the ground coffee. In 1936, the widely recognized cone-shaped filter paper that fit inside the tapered filter top was introduced. The '102' became the most popular.[7]
Between 1941 and 1945, the Concordia Porzellanfabrik was used by Melitta.[8] In 1951/1952 and 1957/1958, the Porta-Keramikwerke J. Brauers in Barkhausen at Porta Westfalica, Germany produced ceramic filters for Melitta.[9] Langenthal Porzellan [de] once also produced porcelain filters for Melitta.[10] The Porzellanfabrik Friesland, founded in 1953 as part of the German Melitta group,[6] and independent since 1991/1995, produced Melitta porcelain filters up to 2018. Since then, they continue to sell these filters under their own Friesland label,[11] whereas Melitta itself switched to produce these filters in China.
