Editing Merck Group (section)

===Origins and confiscation===
[[File:ENGEL APHOTHEKE.png|thumb|The Angel Pharmacy in [[Darmstadt]] which was owned by the [[Merck family]] from 1668; the beginning of the Merck company]]
The roots of Merck reach back as far as the 17th century in the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt]] (now a part of Germany). In 1668, [[Friedrich Jacob Merck]], an [[apothecary]], assumed ownership of the ''Engel-Apotheke'' ({{lit|Angel Pharmacy}}) in [[Darmstadt, Germany|Darmstadt]].{{cn|date=June 2024}}

In 1816, [[Heinrich Emanuel Merck|Emanuel Merck]], a descendant of the original founder, took over the pharmacy. Thanks to his scientific education he was successful in isolating and characterizing several different [[alkaloids]] in the [[pharmacy]]'s laboratory, and by doing so also invented a number of drugs. He began the manufacture of these substances "in bulk" in 1827, touting them as a "Cabinet of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Innovations". He and his successors gradually built up a [[chemical]]-[[pharmaceutical]] factory that produced — in addition to raw materials for pharmaceutical preparations — a multitude of other chemicals and (from 1890) medicines.<ref name="thun2003">Merck KGaA (Editor): ''„Was der Mensch thun kann..." – Ein Streifzug durch die Geschichte des pharmazeutisch-chemischen Unternehmens Merck.'' September 2003</ref>

In 1891, Georg(e) Merck established himself in the United States and set up ''Merck & Co.'' with Theodore Weicker in New York. Merck & Co. was confiscated following the [[First World War]] and set up as an independent company in the United States.<ref name="apc1919">{{cite journal |title=Report of the alien property custodian on the chemical industry |journal=[[Ind. Eng. Chem.]] |volume=11 |issue = 4|date=April 1919 |page=364 |doi=10.1021/ie50112a030 |quote=I am of the opinion, however, that indirect ownership of this kind cannot be recognized under the Trading-with-the-Enemy Act, and I have, therefore, determined that the whole of this stock is enemy owned and it has accordingly been taken over. |first=A. Mitchell |last=Palmer |author-link=A. Mitchell Palmer }}{{open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/legal-wrangle-pits-merck-vs-merck/81252246/|title = Legal Wrangle Pits Merck vs. Merck|last = Staff|date = 15 January 2016|journal = [[Gen. Eng. Biotechnol. News]]|access-date = 17 January 2016}}</ref>  Today, the US company, which operates as Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) outside the U.S. and Canada, has about 68,000 employees (December 2021) in 120 countries. It is one of the top 5 pharmaceutical companies worldwide, larger than its German ancestor, which employs 60,334 people in 67 countries (December 2021). While Merck in Darmstadt is the legal successor of the original Merck and retains the rights to the name "Merck" in all countries except the U.S. and Canada, it is sometimes known as the "German Merck" or "Merck Darmstadt" in North America. The company was formerly also referred to as "E. Merck" (Emanuel Merck).{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}