Prym

The "William Prym GmbH & Co. KG" is the oldest family business in Germany. The holding company is located in Stolberg (Rhineland).HistoryFor twelve generations the Prym family has been operating from the city of Stolberg, Germany, making and marketing semi-finished copper and brass products as well as haberdashery. In the 17th and 18th century they contributed substantially to establishing the local brass industry and its development towards international reputation. Johann ( *approx. 1340 to approx. 1420), whose name is documented in a medieval register in Aachen, is referred to as the oldest ancestor. In the middle of the 15th century Wilhelm, a goldsmith, is mentioned as an administrator of an Aachen citizen. He is considered the founder of the family tradition in metal manufacturing and trade.Due to the important zinc ore deposits of the region, the conditions for brass production were ideal at the time. Mainly Protestant families established through their skill and diligence the rapidly growing fame of brass and copper products from Aachen. At the beginning of the 17th century, the loss of the guild rights in Catholic Aachen forced the now homeless Protestant brass manufacturers to move. Eight families came to nearby Stolberg, a small settlement in the dukedom of Jülich-Cleve-Berg, the brass manufacturer Christian (1614–83) and his family being among them. In 1642 he settled down at Dollartshammer, the head office of the family company which is at the same location to this day. As his sisters Maria (bef.1610- 53) and Sara (1615–1696), he also married into the Peltzer family, one of the richest brass manufacturers of the region. Another sister, Catharina (1610–81), married Jeremias Hoesch (1610–53) in 1637.