The Roaring Twenties in a Bottle
Mystikum takes us on a journey in time, back to the 1920s, the famous « Roaring Twenties». Once acclaimed as the leading European perfume brand, it took Paris, Berlin and New York by storm.
Nevertheless, in the 1930s and the wars years that followed, Mystikum, too, experienced tragic and turbulent times. The company, originally called «Scherk», was founded by Ludwig Scherk in 1906 in the pharmacy sector and soon established itself as a global brand. From 1911 onwards Scherk put the emphasis on his own production, focusing on just a few very high quality products, for example «Mystikum» in the fragrance and powder segment.
Early on, Scherk recognized the importance of the American market and built up an extensive sales and distribution network accordingly – targeting the North American market and New York especially, where he also operated production facilities from 1923.
Several years beforehand, Ludwig Scherk had already set up a substantial production plant in Berlin with a workforce of over 400 – remarkably large-scale for the time.
Prior to the Second World War, Shark was targeted by the Nazi «Aryanization» operation, forcing the sale of the company to its main competitor.
Ludwig Scherk himself managed to flee to London, where he lived until his death in 1946. Individual products from the successor company were still available into the 1980s.
Unliver then acquired the rights to the «Scherk» brand, without ever bringing anything to market under the name.
As a fan of the Art Deco style, I was captivated by the brand from the very beginning, which was one of the reasons I decided to evaluate it more closely—and ultimately implement it.
Entrepreneur Dr. Peter Henssen bought the rights to Scherk from Unilever and, since 2024, has led the brand to a new golden age. This means not only the rebirth of the iconic «Mystikum» brand but also that its heritage is secured.
It was of prime importance for Henssen to thoughtfully integrate the history of the brand into its new iteration. To this end Henssen maintained close contact with the founder’s granddaughter, Irene-Alice Scherk, well before the brand acquisition. «The old family brand Mystikum is like childhood to me. It’s as if I were standing in the courtyard of our factory again!», says Irene-Alice Scherk. «I grew up with it. And what a great name – Mystikum. Before the war it was world famous – the German Chanel No.5.»
Both the flacons and the perfume creations themselves take up where the brand left off in its iconic heyday, the glamorous age of Art Déco. The bottles, designed and manufactured for the brand by flacon designer Christian von der Heide, reinvent Art Déco elements from the original bottles, making the new vessels a real gem.
Mark Buxton (Comme des Garçons, Le Labo, Givenchy, Cartier), Ralf Schweiger (Hermès, Calvin Klein, Atelier Cologne) and Alexandre Illan (Thameen, Dita von Teese) are the acclaimed perfumers responsible for the fragrance creations.
