 The Rheinische mill works were commenced with a building erected by Jacob Cohen in 1896.After his death in 1919 his sons William Cohen (then Chairman of the Industry and Commerce Duisburg-Wesel) and Hugo Cohen (Judge of the District Court Duisburg), inherited the mill.With the rise to power of the Nazis the business was confiscated from the Jewish Cohen family on 3 January 1936, and taken over by the brothers Hermann and Wilhelm Werhahn Neuss.