Hans Riegel was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1893. After completing primary school, he began an apprenticeship as a confectioner, a candymaker. During World War I, Hans fought for the Germans. After the war, he returned to candy making and was hired by the Heinen confectionery company in Kessenich. On December 13, 1920, Hans left the Heinen company and founded his own candy company. His capital for his new venture included one sack of sugar, a marble slab, a chopper, a masonry stove, a copper kettle, and a roller. It was a small operation compared to what he was used to at the Heinen company. Working out of his small home at Bergstraße 37 in Bonn, Hans was only able to make about 110 pounds of hard candy per day. As soon as a batch was ready to sell, Hans’s wife Gertrude loaded the candy into a basket on her bicycle and hand-delivered the sweets to customers. Business was not growing as quickly as Hans had hoped. He knew he needed a unique product to bring in funds to allow him to expand his business. But what?
Hans’s target demographic was children, so he thought back to the things that made him happy as a child. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, showmen brought captive bears into towns to perform for passersby who would give them coins. The bears were street performers. The bears walked upright and performed numerous tricks, but the one the children enjoyed most, according to the number of coins taken in, was when the bears would dance as the showmen kept a beat on the tambourine. They were called Tanzbären, or dancing bears. In 1922, Hans used his fond memories to mold his candy into the shape of a dancing bear. Hans shaped his bears with four outstretched limbs so they could sit upright or could stand on all four paws. Children often played with the bears before eating them. Hans created an edible toy.
Sales of the dancing bears quickly exceeded Hans’s expectations. By 1923, Gertrude could no longer keep up with demand on her bicycle, so Hans purchased the company’s first delivery automobile. Hans’s candy went on sale in nearby shops and gradually expanded outward. By 1930, Hans’s candy was available throughout Germany. By 1933, Hans employed 400 people. Production stopped during World War II due to the lack of supplies. Hans died in March 1945, six months before the war ended. Following the war, Gertrude managed operations until two of her sons, Hans Jr. and Paul Riegel, took over management of the company. They built the company into a worldwide enterprise who employs about 8,500 workers in 16 factories in 11 countries who make more than 1,000 different sweet treats. Their top seller is still the product Hans designed after the dancing bears that he remembered from his childhood. Earlier I said Hans produced hard candy, but the dancing bears were something altogether different. You may not have heard the word Tanzbären, but it is likely that you or someone you know has enjoyed Haribo’s gummy bears.
Sources:
1. “Hans Riegel,” Kessenichy ist Kult, accessed September 13, 2026, https://www.kessenich-ist-
2. “Haribo – About Us,” Haribo.com, accessed September 13, 2026, https://www.haribo.com/en-us/
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