Gummi Bear

1922 | Hans Riegel

A cult you can sink your teeth into

The gem of the Weimar Republic! That was how Kaiser Wilhelm II, living in exile, praised the gummi bear. Since this delicious treat was invented, more and more people have joined in the imperial praise. The gummi bear was born in the Kessenich area of Bonn, in the kitchen of the confectioner Hans Riegel. Gelantine is the most important ingredient of the sweet little bear. The fruit-flavored dancing gummi bear and his liquorice cousin first achieved great success at fairs.

At the time of the German Economic Miracle, the gummi bear changed its form. The rather thin little fellows got chubbier and were available in all colors of the rainbow. As artificial colors became less fashionable, the gummi bear also became paler – which has done nothing at all to damage his popularity. Now coloured only using fruit extracts, worldwide it’s the sweet children love to chew. And the grown-ups love it, too.

(Information taken from German Stars – 50 innovations, produced by the Federal Foreign Office, the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Invest in Germany and the Goethe Institut.)