Miele ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances and commercial equipment, headquartered in Gütersloh, Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The company was founded in 1899 by Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann, and has always been a family-owned and family-run company. History Miele's first products were a cream separator, butter churn, and tub washing machine, under the Meteor brand. Carl Miele supervised manufacturing personally, and Reinhard Zinkann apprenticed and handled finances and sales. In 1927, Miele started the production of vacuum cleaners. In 1929, the first electric dishwasher in Europe was produced. From 1930, motorcycles were built. In 1932, Miele was the largest centrifuge factory in Europe. During World War II, Miele produced control units for torpedoes of the German Kriegsmarine. The Miele trademark was established with the foundation of Miele & Cie. company, on 1 July 1899, and appeared on all machines, nameplates, printed materials and advertising produced by the company. From the mid-1920s, a recognition feature of the logo has been a sloping dash used as the dot on the "i". The trademark has remained unchanged apart from three minor alterations to reflect contemporary tastes. A survey by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's leading daily newspapers, found that the "i" alone was sufficient to identify the Miele brand. Miele exports products to global markets and is represented in 47 countries. Their expansion into the United States came in 1983, when they established corporate headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey. In 1999, they relocated to the new headquarters in Princeton, which was designed by the Driehaus Prize winner Michael Graves. Most products are made in Germany or Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania, there are ten showrooms in the United States. Milestones 1899 Foundation of Miele & Cie.; production of cream separators 1900 Production of butter churns and washing machines 1912-1914 Production of motorcars (125 vehicles) 1914 First washing machine with an electric motor; Branches set up in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Paris, Warsaw and Vienna 1924-1960 Production of bicycles and motorcycles in Bielefeld 1927 Production of first vacuum cleaners 1929 Production of Europe's first electric dishwasher 1955 Dutch slogan "Miele. Er is geen betere" invented 1956 First fully automatic washing machine 1958 First domestic tumble dryer 1963 Miele launches in the UK 1966 First humidity sensing dryer, the T 460 1976 First top-loading washer-dryer, the WT 489. 1978 First microprocessor-controlled washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers 1982 Launch of "The