Rudolf Lindt (16 July 1855 – 20 February 1909), often known by his francized name Rodolphe Lindt, was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

maker,

chocolatier A chocolatier is a person or company who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients. Education and training Traditionally, chocolatiers, e ...

and inventor. He founded the

Lindt Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its ...

brand of

Swiss chocolate Swiss chocolate is chocolate produced in Switzerland. While cacao beans and other ingredients such as sugar cane originate from outside Switzerland, the actual production of the chocolate must take place in Switzerland. Switzerland's chocolates ha ...

and invented the

conching upright=1.35, Conche (in the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum) Conching is a process used in the manufacture of chocolate whereby a surface scraping mixer and agitator, known as a conche, evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate and may act as ...

machine and other processes to improve the quality of chocolate.

Life

Lindt was born on 16 July 1855 in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, to pharmacist and politician Johann Rudolf Lindt and his wife Amalia Eugenia Salchli. Between 1873 and 1875 he did an apprenticeship in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

with the ''Amédée Kohler & Fils'' chocolate company, then managed by the sons of

Charles-Amédée Kohler Charles-Amédée Kohler (born Charles-Gottlieb Kohler; 15 June 1790 – 15 September 1874) was a Swiss chocolatier and entrepreneur who founded Chocolat Kohler. He notably invented hazelnut chocolate, in his factory opened in 1830 in Lausanne. ...

. In 1879 he founded his own chocolate factory in the

Mattequartier The Mattequartier is a historic section in the Old City of Bern in Bern, Switzerland. The first expansion of Bern occurred as the city was founded in 1191. The central and oldest neighbourhood was known as the ''Zähringerstadt'' ( Zähringer ...

, a section of the

Old City of Bern The Old City (german: Altstadt) is the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. Built on a narrow hill bordered on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth ...

. In December 1879 he succeeded in improving the quality of chocolate by the development of the conching machine, a lengthwise stirring device which gives a finer consistency and lets undesired

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...

s evaporate. He was among the first chocolate makers to add

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its melti ...

back into the chocolate mass. These two innovations contributed greatly to the high quality of

. In 1899 Lindt sold his factory and the secret of conching to the ''Chocolat Sprüngli AG'', who have traded as ''Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG'' since. Sprüngli paid 1.5 million

Gold franc The gold franc (currency code: XFO) was the unit of account for the Bank for International Settlements from 1930 until April 1, 2003. It was replaced with the special drawing right. It was originally based on the Franc Germinal, and remained a ...

s for the marketing rights and the recipe.

Sources

* *

Alex Capus Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peo ...

: ''Patriarchen: Zehn Portraits''.

Albrecht Knaus Verlag The Albrecht Knaus Verlag (also Knaus Verlag, the company's preferred spelling is KNAUS) is a German publisher of fiction and nonfiction based in Munich. It was founded in 1978 and is now part of the Random House publishing group. The publisher be ...

, München 2006,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindt, Rodolphe 1855 births 1909 deaths People from Bern 19th-century Swiss businesspeople 19th-century Swiss inventors Swiss chocolatiers