Julius II

After a short but serious illness, Julius’ first wife, Emmy (born Emma Amilie Schörner on 21 March 1871), who was much praised for her charitable spirit, died in 1922 at the Lahmann Sanatorium in Dresden. She held the honorary office of senior administrator of the Karolinen Children’s Hospital for over 20 years. Her burial in the family crypt at Dornbach Cemetery drew many people, among them a large contingent of representatives from the worlds of politics, big industry and banking.

In 1931, Julius Meinl II married again, this time to Michiko Tanaka (born 1909, died 1988), who was 40 years his junior.

Michiko Tanaka was a vivacious actress, singer and music professor. She came from a painter’s family in Tokyo and was educated in Hiroshima, Japan. Her uncle was the Japanese Ambassador to Austria and in 1929 she moved to Vienna to study.

In 1930, Michiko Tanaka made her stage debut in “Die Geisha”, an operetta by Sidney Jones. The production was a sensational success. She starred in 1935 in her first film, “Last Love”.

Michiko Tanaka played also in many other operas (including, “Dschainah, das Mädchen aus dem Tanzhaus”, which was written for her by Paul Abraham) and films.

Marrying Julius Meinl II saved Michiko Tanaka from having to return home to Japan. In 1930s Vienna, the Meinls were socially very active and announced numerous events, such as balls and dances, the flower carnival in the Prater Hauptallee, horse races in the Freudenau (The grand Meinl Prize 1935), the Japanese cherry blossom festival in the Sophiensälen, A Festival of the Nations in the Kursalon, the Meinl Ball at Hübners Parkhotel as well as many charitable events.

A constant stream of personalities from the worlds of society, business and politics convened at the Meinls’ villa in Dornbach and in the reception rooms of the Churhaus on Stephansplatz.

Julius Meinl II and Michiko Tanaka divorced in 1941 after the actor Viktor de Kowa asked her to marry him. Julius Meinl II was a witness at their marriage.

On 16 May 1944, Julius Meinl II died at his country estate in Alt-Perau.

Numerous production factories were also set up alongside the sales businesses. Julius Meinl II pursued the strategy of an integrated food company with a high degree of self-supply. Large central factories arose in Vienna even prior to the First World War. In addition to a coffee roast house and a tea packing facility, there were factories for chocolate, pralines, cocoa, biscuits, waffles, jams, which were later followed by production lines for fruit and vegetable conserves, vinegar, mustard, fruit juices, pasta products, distillates, margarine as well as oil and wine cellars.

Within the bounds of his company, Julius Meinl II also implemented sociopolitical ideas that were also to set the standard for other companies, such as the introduction of Sunday closing in 1907. The company voluntarily gave its employees many social benefits, such as recreational homes in the countryside and a lido in Vienna.

Julius Meinl II also realised early on that well trained employees were critically important. The company’s own training school for the standardised training of apprentices was founded as early as 1907.

From 1916, Julius Meinl II devoted himself to the question of how the war could be brought to an end. He said that the peace initiative ought to emanate from Vienna. He also presented this plan to Emperor Karl I on several occasions. In 1917, the emperor wanted to appoint a Lammasch-Meinl-Redlich ministry to develop a federal constitution for the monarchy and end the war. US President Wilson also supported the efforts and dispatched a trusted member of his staff to assist. However, the peace campaign  failed due to the rejectionist posture of the Central Powers.

Julius Meinl II, whose dense network of food shops extended across the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy, probably realised much earlier than most of the others the monarchy’s rapidly worsening situation regarding the supply of raw materials and food, such that his concerns for his company also played a role in his efforts. 

Julius Meinl II also worked outside the ÖPG as a diplomat: within the scope of the so-called “Meinl Group“, a loose association of pacifist politicians, jurists and business leaders, he played a decisive role in 1917/18 on the preparation of a peace treaty with the Triple Entente. Ultimately, however, these campaigns, too, were unsuccessful.

Julius Meinl II also seems to have been significantly involved in the financing of the pacifist periodical Der Friede, which appeared in Vienna from January 1918. 

Julius Meinl II also pursued pacifist activities in Switzerland: he set up an aid organisation for Austrian children, and in 1918 negotiated with Britons and Americans over deliveries of food to Austria.

Entrepreneurial Life

In the 1920s and 1930s, the company developed into a modern pioneering operation under the management of Julius Meinl II. He understood the need for constant rationalisation in order to secure the price competitiveness of the Meinl stores.

In the areas of Marketing and Corporate Design/Corporate Identity, Julius Meinl II was far ahead of his time. In 1924, he had a new logo designed by Joseph Binder, a well-known Viennese graphic designer: a dark-skinned child’s head wearing a tall, red fez and holding a coffee cup, on a yellow background. This eye-catching Moor’s head immediately achieved a signalling effect and characterised the Austrian street scene for more than 80 years.

After he had founded Spar- und Kreditverein der Freunde und Angestellten der Julius Meinl AG (Savings and Credit Association of the Employees and Friends of Julius Meinl AG) as a co-operative in 1923, Meinl was allowed to manage savings deposits.

From 1933, Julius Meinl II acted only as president of the company’s Board of Directors. At the same time, his son from his first marriage, Julius Meinl III, was included in the operational management of the company.

The company that Julius Meinl III headed up until his death in 1944 was a power factor, also in the eyes of the Nazi regime. The ban on opening new stores was repealed by the new rulers after Austria’s so-called ‘Anschluss‘ to the German Reich in March 1938. However, the National Socialists immediately exerted their influence over company policy and the filling of important posts. Jewish managers were gradually pushed out. Thus Schechner was compulsorily replaced by Friedrich Schüngel as Managing Director. Schüngel had led the Meinl stores in Berlin since 1935 and was, according to the Gauakt, an “exemplary National Socialist“. 

Julius Meinl III, who was known for being an opponent of National Socialism and married to a Jew, was also forced out of management. Together with his wife and children, he left Austria in 1938. The following year, he emigrated to England. 

The task of the Meinl Group within the war economy was to produce and purchase goods to ensure the supply of the population. Sales were guaranteed, as retailers were obligated to purchase set quotas of products from certain wholesalers or the consumer cooperative. Many small traders were thus obliged to procure goods from Meinl. In addition, from 1940, Meinl was also obliged to supply the Wehrmacht.

When the Nazi elite had something to celebrate, they often ordered a Meinl buffet. In the occupied countries there were Meinl stores where only ethnic Germans were allowed to shop, as well as shops exclusively for members of the Wehrmacht.

The Meinl businesses operated at full capacity during the war, with the exception of those that produced oil and margarine, which suffered from a lack of raw ingredients.

This even enabled the company to increase its turnover during the war. The opening of new stores also continued, although some of them were destroyed by war hostilities. In 1944, the company owned almost a hundred production sites and around 700 stores.

Julius Meinl II was considered to be an extraordinary Anglophile. He always spent part of the year in England, had influential English friends, an English secretary, and appeared more like an Englishman in terms of living habits, taste, temperament and vision. Immediately after abdicating as King Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor travelled to Austria in the autumn of 1936 and also visited Julius Meinl II at the company’s headquarters.