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Sweet Tooth

The Gummy Bear Obsession

Want to make a German happy? Flowers and wine might be a good start. But to really win one over, consider a gift of sickly-sweet globs of sugary gelatin.

DPA

Lekker: Germans have been obsessed with gummy bears since their invention in 1922 by Hans Riegel.

Germany may be the land of Black Forest cake and apple struedel, but at the end of the day, it's cute little ursine candies that most satisfy the national sweet tooth: the gummy bear, known here affectionately as the Gummibärchen.

First invented by confectionist Hans Riegel in Bonn, Germany, in 1922, Haribo's "dancing bear" soon became a favorite of German luminaries including Kaiser Wilhelm II, Albert Einstein, children's author Erich Kästner and even former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Germans eat them everywhere. In the cinema, on the streets and in school. And it isn't just the kids: open the drawer of a German's office desk and there's at least a 50-50 chance you'll find a small little package of gummy bears, gummy worms, gummy colas or some other form of sickly sweet gummy candy. The cafeteria in the German parliament hands them out for free. But the true sign of the national obsession with gummy bears is the number of shops you can find here dedicated to them. Entire stores on high-rent shopping streets in posh city centers are devoted exclusively to selling gummy bears, with prices by the kilo. The largest chain, Bären-Treff, has 34 stores in cities across the country. It's no small market, either -- according to the Association of the German Confectionary Industry, the average German consumes 3.49 kilograms of gummy candies each year.

The array of choices is nothing short of stunning -- and they come in every shape, color and size imaginable. Believe it or not, gummy bears are also custom-made for the health-conscious and calorie-watching crowd. You can find vegetarian gummy bears, sugar-free versions sometimes called "diabetic gummy bears," as well as organic and chemical-free gummy bears. In the super-trendy Munich neighborhood of Schwabing, there is an entire shop devoted to selling animal-shaped sugar-gelatine blobs free of unnecessary chemicals.

So, should you be invited to a German home for dinner, bringing a bottle of wine is a nice gesture and flowers will be well-received. But if you really want to make your German hosts happy, bring them a package of Gummibärchen for desert. But don't eat them yourself!

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