Offenbach and its tobacco
Johann Nicolaus Bernard, equipped with an "exclusive privilege" from the sovereign, produced snuff in Offenbach from 1733. The "Offenbacher Morocco" became a popular creation. Johann Nicolaus obtained the tobacco from his brother Johann Jakob in Amsterdam or brought it from the Palatinate on his own ships.
The Bernard company really took off in the last third of the 18th century with the construction of a new factory building in the lower Herrnstraße area. At the end of the 18th century, the "Bernard'sche Tabacfabrique" had 100 employees.
In 1892, when the lower Herrnstraße was extended all the way to the Main, Bernard Bros. took the opportunity to build a new factory, as the old premises were no longer adequate and the company owner intended to extend the former manor house on the site of today's Büsing-Palais.
The new factory was built in a square with a large inner courtyard and went into operation in 1896/97.
Bernard Bros. had always been socially minded. Early on, it had a provident fund for workers in the event of illness, as well as a pension fund, as it was not uncommon for employees to work for the company for forty and fifty years, and in one case even sixty years.
A thirteenth monthly salary was already being paid at the turn of the century. The third Whitsun holiday was paid as a public holiday. In addition, vacations were granted on the last Monday of the Frankfurt trade fair in spring and fall, before which there was even an extra monetary payment (nickel), hence the name "Nickelchestag". This institution was abolished in the Nazi state at the instigation of the German Labor Front.