Hans Imhoff (March 12, 1922 – December 21, 2007) was a German chocolate producer and founder of the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum (English: Imhoff Chocolate Museum, nowadays: Schokoladenmuseum Köln, English: Chocolate Museum Cologne) in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany.Official Website of the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum Cologne
Imhoff was born in Cologne to Franz and Charotte Imhoff (née Gallé). After leaving Elementary School he then joined a Trade School, where he trained in Commercial and Vocational Studies. Imhoff founded a chocolate and sugar factory after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

where he produced non-branded chocolates, which became very successful. In 1969 he took over the ''Hildebrand'' chocolate company in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– Germany's oldest chocolate manufacturer - who held the chocolate brand "

Scho-Ka-Kola Scho-Ka-Kola is a German brand of chocolate consumed for its strong caffeine and kola nut mix. The chocolates have a caffeine content of about 0.2 percent, which is derived from the cocoa content of 58 percent and the addition of 2.6 percent r ...

". In 1972 Imhoff took over the failing

Stollwerck Stollwerck Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH is a German chocolate manufacturer based in Norderstedt. It was founded in 1839 and expanded internationally in Europe and America, becoming the second largest producer of chocolate in t ...

chocolate company, and managed to convert it into a successful business. He built up a European Chocolate group through acquiring other brands such as Sprengel and

Sarotti Sarotti is a German chocolate brand owned by Stollwerck GmbH since 1998. History Berlin In 1868 Hugo Hoffmann opened a company to produce sweets. The location of this shop was in Mohrenstraße 10 in Berlin. The industrial chocolate production t ...

. Imhoff retired from the company in 2002. In 1993 Imhoff opened the ''Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum'' (Imhoff Chocolate Museum) in Cologne which creates around 650,000 visitors per year. In 2001 the city of Cologne gave Imhoff an

honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

. Imhoff was married to Clare Gerburg Schmitt, with whom he had four children. He died on 21 December 2007 (aged 85) of an infection caused by lung inflammation.„Schokoladenfabrikant Imhoff gestorben“

Spiegel Online ' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...

, 22. December 2007

Titles

Honorary consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

* 2001 honorary citizenship, of Cologne

Literature

Claus Jacobi Claus Jacobi (4 January 1927 – 17 August 2013) was the editor of the German news magazine ''Der Spiegel'' from 1962 to 1968. He was arrested during the Spiegel scandal. Jacobi was born and died in Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the F ...

: ''Der Schokoladenkönig. Das unglaubliche Leben des Hans Imhoff''. Langen Müller, München 1997, (German)

References

External links

Hans Imhoff obituary

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger The ''Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger'' (KStA) is a German daily newspaper published in Cologne, and has the largest circulation in the Cologne–Bonn Metropolitan Region. ''Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger'' has a base of over 100 contributing editors and a wide ...

, 22. December 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Imhoff, Hans Businesspeople from Cologne Chocolatiers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia 1922 births 2007 deaths