Stuff You Missed in History Class · iHeartPodcasts
Melitta Bentz and the Coffee Filter
February 23, 2026·39 min·3 clips
Melitta Bentz's coffee filter company has a dark secret involving Nazi Germany that few know about.
As heard by us
A crisp, curious history of how Melitta Bentz's coffee filter became a growing family business.
Stuff You Missed in History Class treats Melitta Bentz's coffee filter as a small invention with a surprisingly busy afterlife. The episode picks up as retailers want her metal filters, priced in the sources at 1.25 marks, and follows the business through the year after its…
Why you'd press play
In 1911, Melitta Bentz took her coffee filter to a Dresden hygiene expo and won a gold medal.
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