Rudolf Wild (25 February 1904 – 16 September 1995) was a German entrepreneur, and the founder of WILD, a producer of natural ingredients for food products and beverages.

Biography

After studying chemistry in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, in 1931, Rudolf Wild founded his first company – Zick Zack Werk Rudolf Wild. Under his leadership, WILD developed into an international company. The company is now owned and operated by one of his sons, Hans-Peter Wild.

Awards

In 1979, Rudolf Wild was named the first honorary citizen of the Eppelheim district in recognition of his services to both the citizens and the district. He was also awarded the Stauffer Medal, the highest award of the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, in the same year. Rudolf Wild received the honorary medal of the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg for his many years of support for the university both financially and in idea generation, and became an honorary member in 1994. The Maison Internationale des Intellectuels (M.I.D.I.) awarded Rudolf Wild the honor of Senator h. c. in 1985. To mark his 85th birthday in 1989, Rudolf Wild was awarded the Verdienstkreuz mit Stern (Great Cross of Merit with Star) for his life's work by the then Ministerpräsident of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Späth. The ''Verdienstkreuz mit Stern'' is the highest award issued by the Federal Republic of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

External links

WILD webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Rudolf 1904 births 1995 deaths People from Wiesloch People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Businesspeople from Heidelberg Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German businesspeople