On February 12, 1753, Master Hatter Henrich Henrichsen Dorch established the hat company "Hattefirmaet Henrik Dorch" in Odense, Denmark.
During the 19th century, the firm Henrik Dorch became a large and reputable company under direction of Henrich's son, Jens (1760-1812) captain of Odense's civil guard, and Jens' son, royal hatter Henrich Jensen Dorch (1782-1867, picture to the right) and his son, manufacturer Niels Peter Dorch (1814-1882, the picture shows an admiral's hat by Niels Peter Dorch currently on exhibition at Odense City Museums).
A branch of the firm "Dorch & Co., Hattefabrik", originally lead by Rasmus Dorch was located in Odense at Vestergade 4 until 1896. In 1897 it had moved to Nørregade 37 in Odense. The Odense branch was after the turn of the century run by two of Niels Peter's daughters, Anne Kirstine Henriette Dorch (1852-1936) and Christine Marie Dorch (1858-1942).
Niels Peter's son Henrik Jensen Dorch (1856-1909) moved the firm to shopping street Immervad 3 in central Aarhus in 1881 and later, in 1889, to the prominent address Købmagergade 1 in Copenhagen.
In 1913, the firm's workshop moved to Østergade 61 in Copenhagen. When Henrik Jensen Dorch's son, Svend Julius Fabricius Dorch (1888-1952) died, Svend's wife Ethel continued to run the company.
Today the firm is run by Søren Bertil Fabricius Dorch, the great grandson of Henrik Jensen Dorch (1856-1909), himself the great great grandson of the first hatter, Hendrich (Henrik) Hendrichsen Dorch (1721-1781).