History of Champagne Charles Koch in Avize since 1820
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To start the operation of Champagne Koch whose foundation lies in 1820, Charles Koch proceeded with the acquisition of various properties: three houses located in Avize, leased to his winemakers (Family: Frin, Gérard and Pointe) and over Seven hectares vineyard “appellation Champagne”.
He bought especially on August 4, 1829 a home located, 7 rue de Cramant (which was then called street of the great fountain) to Mr Deullin, winegrower in Avize. After demolished, he built the Koch Castle of Avize for him , his descendants and a few family members.
Charles Koch worked a few years on behalf of Champagne winemakers as François Dinet-Peuvrel until 1829.
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The first association to create a society took place around
1830, At the time of his marriage with Elisabeth Félicie Gaide known as
"Félicie" born on February 19, 1814 at Fains (Meuse), from a family
of judges.
It was a partnership "DINET-PEUVREL & KOCH" which proposed trade of wine, including the processing of products of the Champagne and selling on the market. This association lasted 28 years, during which Charles raised her 4 children and likened to French life was naturalized by a decree dated April 16, 1848.
The children of Charles:
The couple Charles Koch - Félicie Gaide had as children:
- Charles Jean Baptiste Koch dit « Charles II » ( 1834-1860 )
- Louis Hippolyte Gustave Koch dit « Gustave » (1836 – 1903)
- Eugène Nicolas Sosthène Koch dit « Eugène » (1838 – 1890 )
- Caroline Elisabeth Lucie Koch dite « Caroline » (1842 – 1907)
Eldest son of Charles Koch and Félicie Gaide, he was born in Avize on Sept. 6, 1834, two years after their marriage. He had the names of his grandfather and godfather Jean Baptiste Gaide . His father Charles Koch giving to him the first name from the Germanic lineage, he was designated as successor and he learned the craft of grape growing.
He made good grades in college, then went to the
Central School of Paris in 1853.
His father gave him the leadership of the company in 1858.
® 1836
January 26, 1836 at noon was born Gustave. He was baptised two months later, on April 23, 1836 in the church of Avize. The descendants of Charles then adopted the Catholic religion of their mother. By contrast, Charles continued to practice the Protestant religion, visiting the Temple of Reims where the pastor Petit, signed him a prayer book on March 21, 1841.
Gustave was first educated at boarding of Avize, then
at the Royal College of Reims, before joining the Polytechnic school of Paris
in 1858 where he remained for 2 years, when 2 years at the School of Mines.
After his father's death in 1862, single, he lived in the Avize
Koch castle with his mother, younger brother and partner Eugene and his sister
Caroline, and traveled far to develop the case.
Avize mayor from 1869 to 1871, he assumed difficult duties during the Franco-Prussian War, perfectly bilingual German thanks to his father, he was nominated to discuss with the enemy in order to preserve Avize, which was the case. Then he was alderman Avize until his death July 18 , 1903.
"Mr. Gustave Koch is a modest, all these are modest. Nevertheless he
imposed the Koch mark wherever you appreciate the supreme virtues of Champagne
..
'La France Industrielle 1890'
He led a peaceful existence, distracting from the hunt, and focused on the
promotion of Champagne, but finally, after a long celibacy he married April 22,
1873 in Pouilly, nearly 37 years old , with Marie Joséphine Amélie called
"Marie "
Eugène Nicolas Sosthène Koch , the third son of Charles and Félicie, was born in Avize on April 11, 1838, about two years after Gustave. His father was then 39 years old and her mother 24.
It was his grandfather Jean-Baptiste Gaide 73-year old who told the council. Eugene like his brothers was baptized at the church of Avize on April 26, 1838, then as Gustave he went first to boarding school in Avize and continued to study at the Royal College of Reims, the current high school. Eugene does not follow the brilliant schooling his older brothers, preferring to engage immediately in the career of Champagne merchant.
Thus, he directed the different Koch companies.
He married at the age of 34, after the war: June 22, 1872 in Reims with Pauline
Paris aged 23 (Joséphine Noémie Pauline Paris 1849-1920), daughter of an
attorney who became mayor of Reims, Henri Paris.
The marriage was celebrated in one of the rooms of the city hall in Reims by
deputy mayor, in the presence of Félicie Koch, Henri Paris and his wife,
Gustave Koch, one of his cousins Alexandre Gaide, then President of the Court
of Appeal of Paris.
The Paris family, which included many lawyers, was especially represented by Paulin Paris, aged 71, a member of the Institute. The marriage contract was written by Gustave Paris, notary in Avenay.
Eugene fatherless and whose mother Félicie was liberal, found himself under the influence of his stepfather, with a strong personality. Conducted by the lawyer, Eugene negotiated draconian contracts with Gustave, that were favourable, and putting very angry Marie La Marle.
Destroying the relations between the Koch brothers, family Paris gradually forced to abandon their association at the head of the Koch & Son Company.
Charles and Felicia finally had a daughter on April 8,
1842 to 2 ½ hours in the morning.
She was baptized in the church of Avize April 30. Her mother was only 28 years,
but this was the last child, four years after Eugene. She does not experienced
his grandfather Gaide, who died the year before she was born.
The young Caroline spent her childhood in Avize Koch castle
and got married at the age of 23 with a notary Armand Gustave Loche who was 7
years older and was born in Chateauroux.
He had taken up the office of the notary Oudin to Oiry, after studying law at
the Sorbonne University.
She was the first child of Charles and Felicie Koch to
marry. Charles saw therefore none of the marriages of his children. The
marriage contract was drawn up by the notary Bohau in Epernay, and on this
occasion, Caroline Loche was disinterested in the case Koch.
The household Loche was without problem, Gustave Loche worked deeds of the
House Koch Son, they settled in Epernay to return much later in Avize, Market
Square, which is currently up Leon Bourgeois:
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When Charles Koch had separated from his friend and partner françois Dinet-Peuvrel, the latter had continued to operate its own brand "DINET-PEUVREL & Son. Gold medal at the 1856 exhibition
Without heirs, Dinet-Peuvrel made by Gustave Loche their sole heir. Gustave Loche after abandoning his office to Oiry, operating from 1900, for his account of the brand of Champagne Dinet - Peuvrel
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The house of the Marketplace included wineries, like most houses Avize, where Gustave Loche led an operation that ended with him. |
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Caroline Koch, wife Loche, the last surviving child of
Charles, died in his home of Avize Monday, February 18, 1907. They were both buried in the Tombof Avize Koch-Loche on which are written the letters K and L intertwined. |
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From their union was born on 1 July 1866, a single daughter Elisabeth Théodorine Cécile Loche. She married at age 20 in Avize , Paul Desbordes, large family of winemakers, descendant of the Princes of Aragon. |
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Paul Desbordes built to house his family a large mansion in Avize on the 'Rempart du midi' , which was called in the country “Desbordes Castle” as opposed to the Koch Castle. |
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| Paul and Cécile Desbordes 1912 |
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From the union of Cecile and Paul Desbordes five children were born: Pierre Desbordes in 1887 (he died in 1917), Elisabeth in 1889, Marcel Louis in 1891 who died on April 2, 1910 in Leysin in Switzerland, in 1893 René and Marie-Louise in 1895 wife Montegudet.
Families Desbordes, Koch and Gaide, also had until the
20th century a close relationship. For example, Loche and Desborde regularly
spent their holidays in Dieppe renting a large apartment on the seafront .
Paul Desbordes lived in the Castle of Avize until his death in
1943 aged 81 years and his wife Cecile followed him in 1949, aged 83.
The Castle Desbordes was later bought by the municipality , which
installed the College of Avize,
then the Associations Center .
The successor of Charles Koch
In 1858, Charles Koch found the time has come to put his 2 eldest sons in the family business. But Gustave, who was allowed to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1858, then at the Ecole des Mines felt then a vocation for architecture. Gustave left the place , therefore, to Eugene and 1 August 1858, after the dissolution of the first association was founded the company "BUMILLER & KOCH. This company included Charles II with Eugene Koch, and Frédéric Bumiller a nephew of Félicie Gaide of German origin, who lived in the Koch castle of Avize until his death in 1888, with his wife Jenny born Gaide.
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| Adélaide Jenny Gaide (1840-1931) spouse of Frédéric Bumiller (1820-1888) |
But the situation does not permit that company to last
long because "Charles II" died suddenly at the age of 26.
Charles Koch, the valiant pioneer, introduced the terms of the fiasco of the
20th century:
Gustave had he been the French Eiffel ? In any case, his gifts for drawing and
the sciences, as well as studies continuing at the Ecole des Mines would probably led him to a successful career in scientific circles in Paris. The architecture had become a matter of mathematical calculations, and after five years of
further study in larger schools from the Latin Quarter, it is certain that The
Universal Exhibition that took place then in Paris, would have made all its
rightful place to express himself.
Charles had a single and laudable goal: to pass on his
heritage and that his male descendants bear the name Koch associated with the
Champagne he had founded, as far as possible.
But, Charles, son's traders was not a visionary or isn't he enough cheeky
and ambitious for his offspring. By asking to return to Gustave , he declines irredeemably backward, even if the Corporation went healthy for 50 years more .
Gustave does not objected to patriarchal system of
this time, and left the school of the Jardin du Luxembourg.
We will see later that successive blows misfortune were stacked at this
strategic mistake.
Contrary to what Charles wanted, the heirs of Koch castle
Avize were not the Koch, and the height of irony, the company"DINET-PEUVREL" he had ousted , returned to his daughter and survived even at the Koch Company.
A new Act was then published January 7, 1863 passed in front of
the notary Oudin , in Oiry , December 24, 1862 recorded in Avize 29 the same
month .. It was formed between :
1 M. Eugène-Nicolas-Sosthène Koch, Owner and trader residing in Avize
- 2 M. Frédéric Bumiller , Owner and trader residing at the same venue, a native of Jungingen (Hohenzollern-Hechingen)
- 3 M. Gustave-Louis-Hippolyte Koch Also owner and merchant, residing in Avize said.
A partnership for the purchase and sale of wine and
other liquids, called "KOCH BUMILLER & Son" whose length has been
set at ten years starting from 1 January 1858, to finish in the same day of
1873.
The fund capital of the Company consists of what amounts to
Mr. Mr. Eugene Koch and Frédéric Bumiller of the former trading company that
existed between them and Mr. Charles Koch of Avize, and the sum of 75000
provided by Mr. Gustave Koch. Each signature will be associated with the same
social rights management and administration… "
This new company KOCH sons and BUMILLER thus
continuing the work of the patriarch, in 1860 it acquired the buildings of 4
rue de Cramant (opposite the Chateau, from where is took the shot below).
Then it was the turn to die to the valiant emigrant from Heidelberg , Nov. 8,
1862 at his home in Avize, leaving a legacy estimated at 122,840 francs and 7
hectares of vines. The House Koch is therefore the theatre of profound changes
in a short time, with the successive deaths of father and son Charles.
At that time appeared the first official brand KOCH as a result of
the Trademark Act of 1857 and the first deposit was made on November 21, 1859,
it corresponded to the name "Goutte d'Or". At least twenty marks were
filed.
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| Frédéric Bumiller |
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The Avize Castle in 1860 and its inhabitants,
Gustave and Eugene Koch on the flight of steps.
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2013
But in 1865, each partner separated, Frédéric Bumiller preserving buildings of 4 rue de Cramant, operating "La Goutte d'Or Bumiller” until his death on February 13, 1888. His widow and their 3 children left permanently Champagne to go to Paris. Frédéric Bumiller was buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery.
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