The business E. Kikinger was founded in 1845 by
Eduard Kikinger from Passau. Eduard also applied to the council of Merano for a
concession to boil soap and thus laid the foundation for today's business.
After the death of Eduard Kikinger, his widow Elisabet Kikinger took over the business in 1879 and married the company's foreman, Johann Forstner. As the marriage remained childless, Elisabet and Johann adopted young Margarete Greil from Untermais.
Margarete Greil married Alfons Ortner from San Candido, who eventually took over the business from Johann Forstner. Ortner built a soap factory in Marlengo in the 1920s, and he also moved the shop to the current business premises under the so- called Arcades in Merano.
The son of Alfons Ortner and Margarete Greil, also named Alfons, continued to run the business until the 1980s.
Erich Ortner and his wife Elisabeth Niedermair Ortner have been running the business since 1988. After the renovation of the building in 1999, the Ortner family made a conscious decision to keep the facade from the 1930s and the furnishings of the shop, so that the shop has retained its unique atmosphere.
David Ortner joined the team of Erich Ortner and Elisabeth Niedermair Ortner as a lateral entrant in 2018. The family-owned business is now being run by the sixth generation.
