CREMES BY MEGGLE - Key Persons

Josef Anton Meggle II is born on 6 November 1895. On the day he is baptised, his father is said to have drunk the first bottle of wine in his life with his godfather. The first bookkeeper is taken on in 1896. Josef Anton Meggle I dies suddenly in 1912 at the age of 55, just as he is taking the cattle to pasture. His family moans: "All father left us when he died was a pile of debts." Josef Anton Meggle II, who actually wanted to become an electrical engineer, joins the firm in 1913, having passed the cheese-maker apprenticeship exam. His credo: Only with the very best quality can you survive in the market. Josef Anton II receives his call-up papers on 1 February 1915 and initially has to go to Munich for basic training. He sustains a ruptured appendix on the Macedonia front. Meanwhile, his mother and sister carry on running the business very successfully - in no small measure due to fattening pigs.