They Drink Their Coffee, Wash Their Laundry, Buy Their Cosmetics — and Don’t Know Who Profits.#
The Empire#
The Reimann family is among the wealthiest families in the world. Estimated fortune: €35 billion. Their vehicle: JAB Holding Company, registered in Luxembourg.
Most people have never heard the name Reimann. But they buy their products daily:
Coffee: Jacobs, Senseo, Tassimo (JDE), Peet’s Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Espresso House
Restaurants & Food: Pret A Manger, Panera Bread, Krispy Kreme, Einstein Bros Bagels, Insomnia Cookies
Beverages: Keurig Dr Pepper
Cosmetics (COTY): Calvin Klein, Covergirl, OPI, Marc Jacobs, Clairol, Max Factor, Rimmel, Sally Hansen
Household (Reckitt Benckiser, minority stake): Calgon, Sagrotan, Finish, Vanish, Kukident, Durex, Nurofen, Clearasil
Luxury: Jimmy Choo, Bally
From the coffee machine in the morning to the laundry detergent in the washing machine to a condom in the evening — the Reimanns profit from all of it.
The Past#
In 2019, Bild am Sonntag published research that forced the family to respond. What emerged:
Albert Reimann senior and Albert Reimann junior were “ardent supporters of the Hitler regime”. Both NSDAP members.
In the facilities of Joh. A. Benckiser GmbH in Ludwigshafen during the Nazi era:
- Forced labor — hundreds of Russian civilians and French prisoners of war
- Sexual abuse — Eastern European female workers were forced to appear naked in their barracks. Women who refused were “indecently touched in their beds”
- Murder — Russian workers were sent outside during air raids — to their deaths
- Abuse at the private villa — violence against forced laborers also occurred at the family’s private home
The Financial Times reported internationally: “JAB Holdings’ Reimann family admits Nazi past.”
The “Reparations”#
In 2019 — after the press reported, not before — the family came forward. The measures:
- €10 million to former forced laborers and their descendants
- Founding of the Alfred Landecker Foundation with €260 million in endowment
- Official purpose: Holocaust remembrance, combating antisemitism, “strengthening democracy”
€10 million out of €35 billion. That’s 0.028 percent of their fortune.
The foundation was not named after a Reimann — but after Alfred Landecker, a Holocaust victim. The name of the perpetrators disappears behind the name of the victim.
Anna von Bayern: The Connector#
One person connects the worlds: Anna von Bayern.
Her positions — all simultaneous, all publicly documented on the respective websites:
- Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and board member at COTY — the Reimann/JAB cosmetics subsidiary
- At the Alfred Landecker Foundation — the Reimann foundation
- Co-founder of the think tank R21 — “new bourgeois politics”
- Member of the Atlantik-Brücke — the German-American networking organization
- Member of the American Council on Germany
One person. Five positions. From the Reimann cosmetics group to the reparations foundation to the transatlantic networking organization.
R21: The Think Tank#
The think tank R21 (“Republik 21”) positions itself as “non-partisan” for “new bourgeois politics.” On its advisory board sit, among others:
- Nikolaus von Bomhard — Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Munich Re and Deutsche Post AG
- Matthias Müller — former CEO of Volkswagen
Munich, Luxembourg, New York, Ludwigshafen. Munich Re, Deutsche Post, VW, COTY, JAB. A think tank co-founded by a COTY board member who simultaneously sits on the Reimann foundation.
From Calgon to HateAid#
The Alfred Landecker Foundation — financed by Reimann wealth — is the largest private funder of HateAid. HateAid is the organization that:
- Demands mandatory real-name identification on the internet
- Was preparing the Fernandes/Ulmen case for months
- Whose CEO Josephine Ballon stood as a speaker at the rally at the Brandenburg Gate
The complete HateAid funding investigation here.
The 72-hour campaign timeline here.
What This Means#
This article is not a conspiracy theory. Every single piece of information comes from the websites of those involved, from Handelsblatt, Financial Times, Spiegel, SZ, or Wikipedia.
The network exists openly. It doesn’t need to be uncovered — just read together.
A family with a Nazi past founds a foundation. The foundation funds an NGO. The NGO demands the end of anonymity on the internet. The NGO stands at a rally next to the SPD party chair. And every morning 80 million Germans drink their Jacobs coffee and wash their laundry with Calgon.
The question isn’t whether this is a problem. The question is: who asks it?
Sources#
- Wikipedia: JAB Holding Company
- DW (24.03.2019): Nazi past catches up with billionaire Reimann family
- Spiegel (23.03.2019): Reimann family: files reveal abuse of forced laborers
- SZ (2019): Reimann founders were Nazis
- Manager Magazin (24.03.2019): Reimann family: abuse scandal from Nazi era revealed
- Financial Times: JAB Holdings’ Reimann family admits Nazi past
- Handelsblatt (12.12.2019): Reimann family pays €10 million to former forced laborers
- Alfred Landecker Foundation: alfredlandecker.org
- Denkfabrik R21: denkfabrik-r21.de
- HateAid: Transparency Report hateaid.org
Morning: Jacobs. Noon: Pret. Evening: Durex. And in between, the foundation of the family that owns all of this decides who gets to remain anonymous on the internet. €35 billion. 0.028 percent in reparations. And a name nobody knows.
