While 1912 may have been a disastrous year for the shipping industry, it was also the year that the success story began for the 'Märkische Zwieback- und Cookie Factory C. & F. Brandt GmbH'. This was the year master baker Carl Brandt and his brother Fritz founded their cookie and rusk factory in the German town of Haspe (now Hagen). Originally a traditional business, it grew steadily, and by the late 1920s, it was mechanized with the introduction of a proprietary and patented rusk cutting machine. Twenty-five years after its founding, the company employed over 700 people. Throughout its history, Brandt remained a family business, passed down from father to son (or daughter). The current, still-active company is still run by two descendants, great-grandsons, of the original founders.