Original Eau de Cologne Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz 1709

Original Eau de Cologne by Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz

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7.8 / 10 200 Ratings

A popular perfume by Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz for women and men, released in 1709. The scent is citrusy-fresh. It is still in production.

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Main accords

Citrus

Fresh

Green

Floral

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lemon

Bergamot

Lime

Bitter orange

Heart Notes

Violet

Galbanum

Jasmine

Base Notes

Musk

Cedarwood

Frankincense

Sandalwood

Perfumer

Johann Maria Farina

Ratings

Scent

7.8200 Ratings

Longevity

5.6174 Ratings

Sillage

5.2174 Ratings

Bottle

6.9165 Ratings

Value for money

7.561 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 07/08/2025.

Interesting Facts

This fragrance by Farina Gegenüber is the first and original EdC from 1709.
"Original Eau de Cologne" goes back to a special mixture, the 1709 "Aqua Mirabilis”. Johann Maria Farina, an Italian immigrant to Cologne stood behind the original recipe. Soon there were other "Eau de Colognes", that used the name "Farina” and Farina had to fight against plagiarism. With Georg Mühlens, who issued one of these 1792, there was a long-running dispute. Eventually the product´s name was changed in "4711 - Eau de Cologne". Until today, both companies produce their fragrances. Farina Gegenüber states to use the old original recipe from over 300 years ago.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Afternoon Swim

La Colonia

Versace pour Homme Eau de Toilette

Sedley

Eau de Cologne

Allure Homme Sport Eau de Toilette

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/10/2012

7.5
Bottle 2.5
Sillage 5
Longevity 8
Scent

Apicius
224 Reviews

Apicius

Very helpful Review 4

Modern Fragrance - Traditional Appeal

For many decades, Farina Gegenüber's Kölnisch Wasser has stood in the shadow of its neighbour 4711. They had one or the other court case about copyrights with each other, and now, Farina Gegenüber may call itself the oldest perfume brand of the world! Whoever comes to Cologne – even for a short stay – should not miss the Farina house in the old town near the cathedral.

It was many years ago when I first tried Farina's Eau de Cologne. It always had the air of being more refined than 4711, and it was an insider's tip. However, I could not find much difference then. - This has changed today. The current Eau is by no means a Kölnisch Wasser which could have been produced like that in 1709. At 4711 the style of the original product has never changed, for good reason, and they rather invent something new. But at Farina, they apparently took the other way: the original fragrance seems to be under steady reconstruction, just like the old Cologne cathedral nearby.

In its current form, Farina's Eau de Cologne does not have any neroli note. However, it is the neroli that for me is always the core of a classic Eau de Cologne. So, it is not the original 4711 Kölnisch Wasser that Farina's should be compared with, it is rather a twin to 4711's last year's issue Nouveau Cologne. And there is no doubt that Farina Gegenüber's Eau de Cologne is superiour to that.

Farina's Eau de Cologne opens with a lovely accord which is equally citric and herbaceous. The details of this herbal note are difficult to find out. I presume, that there is a spicy note not officially listed: cardamom. It gives me a very vague resemblance to the style of spicy citruses like Czech & Speake's Citrus Paradisi and Ronaldo Esper's Millesimé. Anyway, the very rare combination of citruses and that cardamom-like note is amongst the most beautiful possible interpretations of a citric fragrance.

Besides the citric head notes I sense some vague hints of a synthetic freshness, the kind of freshly washed and ironed clothes. A certain tartness and dryness may relate to the listed cedarwood, it provides some structure to the citric notes. This may be the biggest difference to the new 4711 Cologne: there is no sweetness at all. With these notes, Farina Gegenüber has left behind the original concept of Kölnisch Wasser which includes only head notes – their Eau de Cologne already has the longevity of an eau de toilette, however with rather weak sillage after the head notes have faded away.

Farina Gegenüber presents us a modern and very well done Eau de Cologne which is recommendable for refreshment not only on hot days. Only experienced parfumistas may blame Farina for not holding on to times passed. Personally, I'd wish Farina Gegenüber would issue another Kölnisch Wasser closer to the original formula.

Whoever likes neroli and is looking for a refined 4711 is currently wrong at Farina's. Go for Guerlain's Eau de Coq instead!

11/29/2012

5
Sillage 5
Longevity 8
Scent

Coutureguru
223 Reviews

Coutureguru

6

A little drop of History ...

As my nose develops on this (seemingly) never ending journey into the world of fragrance, I become more and more enamored with the concept of Eaux de Cologne. I had no idea that Farina existed until I was generously sent a mini of both 1709 and Russisch Leder (thanks a million Apicius) in a swap.

Farina 1709 is generally regarded as the formula which gave this style of fragrance its name, apparently completely unaltered for the last three centuries. In 1708, Johan Maria Farina wrote to his brother saying "I have discovered a scent that reminds me of a spring morning in Italy, of mountain narcissus and orange blossom just after the rain. It gives me great refreshment, strengthens my senses and imagination.”
In 1709 Farina established what is today the world’s oldest fragrance company. He christened his fragrance 'Eau de Cologne' in honour of his hometown Cologne, thereby making this city famous for its perfume in the 18th Century. A statue honoring Farina was erected outside the Town Hall, where it can still be seen. The Farina family (now in its 8th generation) continues producing the original Eau today.

Since there are no listed notes for this fragrance I have had to resort to some internet sleuthing and have also had to rely on the dexterity of my sniffer :). Eau de Cologne generally contains a mixture of citrus oils like Lemon, Orange, Tangerine, Bergamot, Lime, Grapefruit and Neroli with herbs and florals like Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Petitgrain and Jasmine. Formulae for these bits of liquid history tend to remain carefully guarded secrets.

From the strongly citrus opening (mostly Lemon here) through to the marriage of Neroli and Rosemary in the base, Farina 1709 is certainly history in a bottle. There is an earthiness here too, reminiscent of the resinous muskiness of Clary Sage.
This Eau presents my nose with a sweeter and smoother effect than 4711.

I must say that I prefer it.

05/26/2020

3
Sillage 5
Longevity 7
Scent

FvSpee
249 Reviews

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FvSpee

Top Review 27

Colonia instead of Corona, No. 14: Offside

In football, it would be unfair and boring if a player from the attacking team were to line up directly at the opponent's goal and then his team-mates would simply pass the ball over the heads of both teams, so that the ball receiver would not have to do anything except accept the ball and then coo into the goal at the closest possible distance. This seems to me to be a sensible approach, even though I assume that this would not be so terribly easy for the "goal scorer" either. But after all, you want to see how the game builds up slowly and the ball is played forward step by step.

This is why there is the offside rule, which states that a player of the attacking team is forbidden to pass the ball to a team-mate if that team-mate is standing "directly in front of the opposing goal", defined in such a way that there must be at least two men from the defending team between the "accepting man" and the opposing goal (usually the goalkeeper and a field player). If this prohibition is violated, i.e. the ball is played, and at that moment the "target" is directly in front of the opponent's goal, he stands offside and the whistle is blown offside accordingly, which is then less good for the attacking team.

Supposedly, nobody who is not a football fan understands this rule. It used to be said that women did not understand this rule, but anyone who would say something like that today would also be on the sidelines. I'm not a football enthusiast, but I think I understood the rule so well that I could even explain it. Or?

On the other hand, although I'm an olfactory enthusiast, it's completely impossible for me to tell the story of the relationship between "4711" and this Cologne by Farina Gegenüber. Somehow the two argue about whose cologne is the real one, which one was there first, which one is from the real Farina, who this Farina was in the first place (it has nothing to do with Farin Urlaub) etc etc. This is all too confusing for me. Especially since there is also a "Farina" cologne from Roget&Gallet. To include this in the explanation would probably be like the offside rule in three-dimensional chess played in Star Trek.

Nor can I report to what extent the "Farina Gegenüber" (I bought my bottling in the souk) available today is still identical with the versions from 1709, 1809, 1909 and 2009. I think, however, that galbanum, sandalwood and (white) musk were not part of the standard repertoire of perfumers and colognes in 1709, and that incense was more likely to have been used in church at that time.

First of all, I find that "Opposite" from 4711 is about as different as an apple from a jack. So we don't have to think that the difference is like between Czech "Budweiser" and American "Bud", between "Coke" and "Pepsi" or between "Jenaer Glas" from Jena and "Schott Glas" from Mainz. This scent must be described independently.

It begins with a light, fine, very bright, citric (rather lemony) opening, to which perhaps a little orange, but only a little bergamot and rather no neroli seems to have been added. However, this citrusy note is - untypical for a cologne - not very dominant. From the first second on, a floral (also light) and, for my understanding, strongly synthetic heart note is present, whereby by "synthetic" I mean both classic aldehydes and these modern shower gel boosters. I don't like this so much, especially since it seems unexpectedly feminine, sweetish and chemically veiled to me. From minute 2 on, the base, which is surprisingly woody for a cologne, starts to show through. Here you perceive the typical pencil note of cedar, not overwhelmingly strong, but still stronger than incense. Beyond the pencil it is rather a fat mossy soaked and therefore fluffy generic light general wood.

All in all, this is Farina's anti-4711. 4711 is uncompromisingly old-fashioned, but Farina seems to me to be rather strained modern. I perceive it as a very bright, dry wood-musk-aldehyde-if-not-ambroxane flowering plant with a lemon facade glued in front of it. That was perhaps very hard now, but I had to give vent to my disappointment (I had expected something fulminantly classical here).

The projection is very weak, but the durability - at least up close - is suspiciously long (over four hours).

Although of course all comments here are great, for further reading I especially recommend the one by Nase1 (who feels the scent similar to me) and the one by the always highly appreciated Ttfortwo (as counter-program to my comment): She is enthusiastic and gives 10 points, but nevertheless we are despriptive in many ways not so far away. Whether her sample from the 90s smells the same as my current one, I don't know, of course.

I still give 7 points, but I'm whistling offside.

07/20/2018

10
Bottle 2
Sillage 6
Longevity 10
Scent

Ttfortwo
40 Reviews

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Ttfortwo

Top Review 31

A gem. A little miracle.

While sorting and systematizing one of the back corners in my closet, I came across a geological layer from the 90s and several small unopened bottles of this fragrance.

It's almost a miracle: a recipe from the first years of the 18th century - the cathedral was far from finished - and this little hero still exists. What did he not have to survive, payment difficulties, aggressive imitators, rubble and ashes, Swiss exile, but he is still there and looks younger than ever.

What an enchanting, soft friendliness this fragrance radiates! He is so different from his saber-toothed, metallically radiant namesake. I'm wearing both, the 4711 variant on the left, in an older edition, of which I brought several small bottles from Cologne as souvenirs for me at the beginning of the 90s - so before I sold them to Wella/Mäurer and Wirtz.

Two of these 4711 bottles were still there and unopened - one I "decapitated" especially for this comparison. It is completely intact and therefore well suited for comparison, because its counterpart, the counterpart fragrance, was bought on the same occasion and is therefore the same age. The Farina fragrance had already inspired me at that time and I had taken one of these enchanting reclining bottles with me (it's long since gone, afraid of a long time, used up) and several miniatures.

Yeah, I have a soft spot for "survivors." That's why I have the greatest respect for the 4711-Cologne water. But I've never worn it because it's too harsh for me, too radiant-steel, too headache-fresh. In the course of time, the 4711 variant also becomes somewhat softer, fortunately loses this citrus needle tip, lavendered for some time and then almost disappeared.

The Farina fragrance, on the other hand, is - apart from a slightly alcoholic start - flowery from the start and its freshness is mild and fragrant and the fragrance lasts much longer. Now, at this point of the text, only a pale orange blossom hint is left of the 4711, while the Farina fragrance is still pleasingly present and complete.

The Farina fragrance is a light version of a perfume, 4711 a short refreshment in extra brut.

Farina's little miracle gets a 10 from me because he's so old, because he still exists, because he's really beautiful, and: A complete perfume

06/29/2018

6
Bottle 5
Sillage 5
Longevity 8
Scent

Taurus
381 Reviews

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Taurus

Top Review 14

Sooo old - sooo fresh!?

Anyone who visits the fragrance museum in the Farina House in Cologne and is amazed at the history of perfume will receive a miniature of the original Eau de Colognes as a small gift.

If it hadn't been for this nice present, I probably wouldn't have taken this fragrance seriously. Although I found it fascinating how this Eau de Cologne was the first of its kind to be developed by Johann Maria Farina and later Napoleon was a big buyer (with which he supposedly dieselled everything in), the real surprise is the olfactory appearance. If the recipe has been on its way for more than 300 years, then, as Leimbacher already remarked, it was definitely far ahead of its time.

After all, it should still be the original recipe (uh... at the latest with the musk I would think rather that there some ingredients were substituted), after which this Cologne is further manufactured. And this one has it in itself, because here it sniffs pleasantly citrus-orange fresh. Actually very contemporary, as if OEdC was a brand new fragrance on the market. In contrast, its oldest and best-known competitor 4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser has more of these concentrated bergamot and neroline notes and, despite its more complex design, appears somewhat more dusty in the figurative sense.

OEdC is more simple knitted, but precise on the point and seemingly totally timeless. I can hardly imagine that people used to smell the same way, but I can't prove the opposite now either.

That must have been quite exotic even back then, because lemons and oranges (which are not mentioned up here in the pyramid, but on Farina's side) were not as widespread as they are today.
After a relatively short time, the fragrance fades into a shallow woody softness.

Conclusion: Original recipe or not - what was produced naturally at that time will not be possible today without synthetic aids (I only say: musk). But everything is fresh and pleasant - as long as this is more important to you than the story behind it.

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