rodolphe lindt
rodolphe lindt. from the wikipedia website: urltoken. accessed july 25, 2016 .
it was 1879. rodolphe lindt wanted to make chocolate. soft, fine chocolate, chocolate to enjoy .
the invention of lindt chocolate. from the lindt website: urltoken. accessed july 25, 2016 .
the family behind lindt today is not, as it happens, called lindt. it is sprüngli .
rodolphe and his relatives, august and walter lindt, continued their involvement in the bern location and eventually retired from the company in 1905 .
rodolphe died in 1909, and today the company which bears his name, lindt & sprungli ag, still develops recipes using his secret conching process .
rodolphe lindt set about to fix things. lindt was pharmacist, like his father and brother. but he apprenticed with a chocolate maker and at age twenty - four decided to set up his own chocolate shop and do some experimenting .
lindt was renowned for the smoothness of its chocolate, the result of rodolphe' s invention of the conche, a piece of machinery which tumbled and mixed liquid chocolate. sprüngli was quick to acquire lindt and the secrets of its manufacturing process .
throughout its nearly 170 - year history, lindt has been a leader and pioneer in the premium chocolate industry. rodolphe lindt created the first melting chocolate in 1879, essentially inventing chocolate as we know it today through the invention of the conche. with the know - how and passion of the lindt master chocolatiers, lindt & sprüngli carries on this legacy today, using state - of - the - art and proprietary technology .
however it was the lindt family which had the first big row. rodolphe, august and walter lindt retired from the business in 1905. they had agreed not to re - enter the chocolate business. but august and walter broke the agreement and set up a factory, a & w lindt. a costly legal wrangle followed, resulting in the closure of the upstart business in 1928 .
it was the spring of 1898. almost twenty years after the invention of the chocolat fondant. in olten, half way to zurich: that was where rodolphe lindt met this man who was famous for his own chocolate, but much more so for his entrepreneurial spirit. this man knew: rodolphe lindt would have to be able to continue to tinker and, which was just as important, have a say in what happened to his chocolat fondant .
the movie
chocolat
inspired the maître chocolatiers at lindt to create this superb hot chocolate .
at the same time, everyone was trying to uncover his secret, but fortunately they were unsuccessful. and so the offers came. the secret recipe was worth an audacious three million marks to a german company. but hand it over? rodolphe lindt rejected the offer .
born in 1855, the son of a pharmacist, rodolphe became one of the 19th century’s most popular chocolate makers, founding a chocolate factory in bern, switzerland in 1879 .
but in 1905, lindt shocked many with his decision. he decided to sell his company to rudolf sprungli, a chocolate maker from zurich, germany. for 1. 5 million swiss francs, lindt turned over the rights for his products and his recipe to sprungli. and ever since, the lindt & sprungli continued to produce good quality chocolate .
many sought his secret. in 1899, a crazed for the formula of lindt begun when the german magazine, gordian, published an article titled “why does this chocolate taste different from others? ” letter for guesses on lindt’s recipe flooded the publisher .
the lindt usa facility produces chocolate, from bean to finished product, for the united states, canada, mexico, various european markets, and australia allowing lindt to meet the rising consumer demands for premium chocolate on both a national and global level .
it was 1879. rodolphe lindt, the son of a bernese pharmacist, wanted to make chocolate. do you know what chocolate was like at the time? it was hard: hard to process and hard to eat. you actually had to chew it. soft? enjoyable? a joy for the senses? a pipe - dream. it did not become reality until one pivotal evening... but stop! things didn' t go that fast. rodolphe lindt was a confectioner, epicurean and bon vivant who wanted to create a chocolate that was not hard and pleasing to the pallet. he bought an old factory hall with antiquated machines. bernese society was surprised but this did not discourage rodolphe. he conducted some experiments, but nothing worked. on the contrary: a white layer formed on the chocolate mass. bernese society poured scorn on him .
lindt & sprüngli is known for its chocolate products, like the iconic gold bunny, various chocolate bars, and lindor truffles .
when rodolphe lindt revealed the secret to sprüngli junior and senior, they were both highly amazed – and sworn to secrecy. the secret was placed in a safe, where it remains today. and very soon, chocolat fondant was produced in a modern factory in kilchberg near zurich. for unauthorised persons, it was
no entry
.
for almost 150 years, chocolate manufacturers in switzerland and the rest of the world have been trying to discover the secret behind the family recipe. nobody has quite managed to do so up until now. the melt - in - the - mouth chocolate from rodolphe lindt has remained a symbol not only for world - renowned swiss chocolate but also for the innovativeness and inventive spirit of successful entrepreneurs from this small country in the heart of europe: the country of lindt chocolate .
his new “melting chocolate” was such a success, and rodolphe was unable to keep up with increasing demand so he sold his company and the secret of the conching process to zurich chocolate entrepreneur rudolf sprungli in 1899 .
rodolphe lindt was successful with his chocolat fondant – and gained the recognition of noble bernese society. they all ordered his chocolat fondant. and kept on ordering more. but they waited. patiently at the beginning. then irritated later. and ultimately furious. his old factory, down by the aare, was much too small; it creaked and groaned .
lindt & sprüngli had initially set up only one successful overseas manufacturing plant, in england. however, the end of the second world war and the lifting of restrictions on supply soon led to lindt chocolate being made under licence in france, germany and italy. in 1972, lindt & sprüngli took full control of its overseas operations. it now claims to be the world' s largest manufacturer of premium chocolate .
lindt celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1995 in style. it sent a box of chocolates to every swiss household - all 2m of them .
when rodolphe lindt entered his factory on the following monday morning, he was initially shocked. but what he found in the stirring tank was anything but hard, burnt chocolate mass. it shone; it smelt wonderful. and when he tasted some of it, he was the first person ever to experience how chocolate melts in the mouth. he was in seventh heaven .
in the mid - 1890s, his small factory was ready for demolition; modernisation was vital. and there was the pressing question of how to reduce the pile of orders. rodolphe lindt' s forehead started to show the first signs of worry. and they were precisely the things that caused him to meet a man who had travelled especially from zurich to meet him .
johann was ambitious and not only brought in modern equipment but moved the factory to an even larger site beside lake zurich at kilchberg. to finance the expansion he turned the business into a public company, chocolat springli ag, in 1899 and at the same time took up an option to buy berne - based rodolphe lindt, the best known chocolate maker of the day .
at that time, chocolate was a very different product from today — generally gritty and often bitter. rodolphe started experimenting with how to mix product ingredients and is said to have used old machines he bought from a bankrupt spice mill .
lindt is actively engaged politically, economically and socially in new hampshire, participating in the community to make the state a better place to live and work .
in the 19th century, the tiny land lock country of switzerland became the center of development for chocolate production. the advent of industrialization led to the commercialization and improvements to the production of once luxurious products and turning to a product that the masses could enjoy. names like jean tobler and daniel peter were pioneers to the rise of chocolate. and among the most ingenious and successful of this chocolatiers was rodolphe lindt .
ganterbein, who had previously been married to another swiss businessman, had been accused of influencing the appointment of lindt executives and being behind the departure of rudolph' s son .
after creating the machine, the next task for lindt was to look for the perfect chocolate recipe for his company. this search, however, would end in an accident, not of a tragic kind. one weekend lindt worked with his machine to make his chocolate recipe. for unknown reasons, he left the factory without turning his conche machine off. for three days, the machine continued to roll. upon the return of lindt he discovered that the chocolate in the conche was smooth and easy to mold. he dubbed his product chocolat fondant .
every one has their favorite brownie recipe and this is one of lindt’s maîtres chocolatiers. the success of a brownie depends not only on the ingredients, but also on not overbaking it .
rodolphe lindt was a hard working son of a pharmacist. born in 1855 in berne, switzerland, his relation with chocolate begun when he became an apprentice to a confectioner. during his apprenticeship, he learned the art of chocolate making that was becoming popular in switzerland. after finishing his apprenticeship, during the 1870’s he decided to establish his own chocolate factory in berne. he build his dream chocolate factory from trash. he bought two factory buildings that were damaged by fire. and his roasting machinery for his cacao beans was second hand, bought from a bankrupt company. nevertheless, with hard work and perseverance, and with some help from his brother august lindt, his factory began production by late 1870’s .
lindt tried what he could — different ingredients, different mixing processes, including additional cocoa butter - - but nothing seemed to work. until, as legend has it, an employee failed to turn off a special mixing machine on a friday night. lindt returned monday morning, dismayed to find the mixer still running. but the chocolate he discovered had an amazing consistency and aroma. it was delicious .
on hearing of the marriage, lindt' s managing director ulrich geissmann resigned, leaving the group without an operational boss for the fourth time in six years. the row ended two years later when rudolph retired, aged 75 .
lindt & sprüngli (south africa) (pty) ltd. 18th floor | portside | 4 bree street | cape town 8001 | republic of south africa. p. o. box 576 | green point 8051 | republic of south africa
processes, including the lindt & sprungli chocolate process in 1972. described as the most significant improvement to chocolate manufacturing since the invention of the conche, the lscp is said to ensure the quality of chocolate while requiring less energy and space than dozens of conches .
while lindt' s chocolate may claim to be the smoothest in the world, the company has had its rough patches, having to contend with two domestic disputes - one in the 19th century, the other in the 20th century - which have affected it profoundly .
lindt was more of an artisan than a businessman, but it doesn’t mean he was generous with his techniques. chocolat fondant became an instant hit. from rich and middle class swiss, they looked for lindt’s product. they loved its silky texture and its sweeter taste. the melting of the chocolate mesmerized them. lindt on the other never expanded his business. he did not built a larger factory or even established a distribution chain throughout switzerland. it turned out, he made chocolate for passion. although not looking for a huge chocolate empire, he kept his conche machine and chocolat fondant recipe a secret. he defended his secret as if it was a city of gold. he kept the machines in another building. its keys were only in the hands of the few. authorized personals were also minimal .
in 1847, british chocolate company j. s. fry & sons created the first solid edible chocolate bar from cocoa butter, cocoa powder and sugar. rodolphe lindt’s 1879 invention of the conching machine, which produced chocolate with a velvety texture and superior taste, and other advances allowed for the mass production of smooth, creamy milk chocolate on factory assembly lines. you don’t need to have a sweet tooth to recognize the familiar names of the family - owned companies such as cadbury, mars and hershey that ushered in a chocolate boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s that has yet to abate. today, the average american consumes 12 lbs. of chocolate each year, and more than $ 75 billion worldwide is spent on chocolate annually .
lindt looked for solutions. he asked the aide of his pharmacist brother, august for help. with research and observation they found out that the whitish coat was caused by too much water. they also found out that cocoa butter was the solution to make the chocolate smoother in the mouth .
lindt usa first opened its doors 25 years ago in 1989 and continues to expand in stratham, new hampshire. the company employs nearly 2, 000 people at peak demand during the year at the company’s production facility, and continues to be one of the largest employers on the new hampshire seacoast .
so he suggested to lindt that he buy the brand off him. and this brilliant secret of the conching as well. for a good price, obviously, and with a say in what happened, of course, and without obligations. and yes, also the employees of lindtsche berner fabrik – they would all be taken over .
it was his brother auguste, a pharmacist like his father, who analysed the white coating which turned out to be harmless: crystallised fat. the testing continued well into the night. more cocoa beans? cooking the cocoa butter? nobody had done this up to then! he worked on the recipe, thought about it, experimented. but no matter what he did, he was no closer to achieving his goal .
chocolat fin
? you must be joking! then came that friday evening. rodolphe lindt, jeered as one of the
jeunesse dorée
, left the factory without having finished his work – and more importantly, without having switched off the machines. did he forget to do so because he was in such a hurry? or was it intentional? did he have a hunch or was it a small act of defiance? we don' t know. but the machine continued to run: for a whole weekend .
but all that didn' t bother him: he enjoyed his life, hunting, at vernissages, in parlours. sold the chocolat fondant to the noble daughters at boarding schools in neuenburg and berne. he only went to the factory when he felt like it. and he accepted the offer from the confectioner jean tobler to ensure even fuller order books for lindt as a travelling salesman .
there is little to suggest that little heidi had also foreseen that she would share her dream villa with another wealthy septuagenarian. for the past two weeks, however, she has done just that. and not just any old man. for the latest love in her life is rudolph robert sprungli, 72 - year - old patriarch of the maker of fine chocolates, lindt & sprungli. more than a successful business, lindt & sprungli is an institution, a bastion of tradition now in its fifth generation of sprunglis. its shares, the second most expensive in switzerland (after the kuoni travel group) are few in number, and represent one of the classic inheritance gifts in fine zurich society. a blue - chip investment - the company has never missed a dividend since its first payment as a public company in 1899 - and a repository of dignified swiss values: a revered combination .
the result of their research came to a form of a new machine in 1879. hot rollers were placed in an iron trough in a granite stone. this would serve as the mixer for the cocoa and the extracted cocoa butter. the machine was then power by the nearby river of aare. lindt called his machine conche, coming from the spanish word concha meaning shell. it was because the machine resembled a half shell. and the process though the machine was called conching .
in the company itself, he directed an independent accountant, kpmg fides, to investigate the allegations that lindt & sprungli had been infiltrated by members of the i am sect. and he instigated another private investigation, into mrs gantenbein' s past. the kpmg fides report, produced before the board in late july, dismissed all the wilder allegations. it found no evidence of i am infiltration. it did find that alexandra gantenbein exerted' weight and influence in decisions concerning managerial appointments' .
lindt is actively involved in the community including, but not limited to: united way of new hampshire; donating chocolate to food banks and various programs throughout new england; donating to pease greeters, a group who welcome men and women in our armed forces at pease international airport either on their way to or from areas of conflict; donating to feed the children, a non - profit relief organization; and through donations of used cocoa bean shells byproduct to a public service of new hampshire power plant, which are used to create renewable energy for psnh customers throughout new hampshire .
throughout the year, switzerland hosts hundreds of festivals and sporting, cultural and political events. roughly every 25 years, switzerland holds a national exhibition .
switzerland is a christian country. around two - thirds of the population are either roman catholic or protestant (reformed - evangelical) .
thanks to its location at the crossroads of three major european cultures (german, french and italian), switzerland has a rich and varied arts and culture scene .
switzerland evolved over many centuries from a loose alliance of small self - governing towns and states to a fully - fledged federal state of 26 cantons .
federalism and direct democracy reflect the great importance that the swiss political system places on the freedom of choice and self - determination .
switzerland has one of the most competitive economies in the world thanks above all to its highly developed service sector .
a cornerstone of the swiss economy, comprising the banking and insurance sectors and contributing to switzerland’s prosperity .
the main sources of energy in switzerland are oil, natural gas, nuclear power and hydropower .
the agricultural sector is only a very small part of the swiss economy, but it is very important for the tourism industry and the country' s food security .
switzerland is not only one of the world’s most innovative research nations, but also one of the most competitive .
primary schoolchildren acquire and develop the basic skills and knowledge needed to further their education .
switzerland has three main geographic regions: the alps covering around 60% of the country' s total surface area, the swiss plateau (30 %) and the jura (10 %) .
the world’s longest railway tunnel – the gotthard base tunnel – was officially opened on 1 june 2016 .
solar impulse has brought the dream of flying over long distances without the need for fossil fuel a step closer to reality .
at an altitude of 2, 883 metres and nestled among the glaciers and imposing peaks of the valais alps, the new monte rosa mountain refuge rises from the icy landscape like a giant sparkling shard of rock crystal .
from the medieval old town of berne to the futuristic city of brasilia, from the tiny convent of müstair to the imposing cathedral of chartres, from the fertile terraced vineyards of lavaux to the vast desert of ténéré – all have one thing in common: they are unesco world heritage sites .
quality, precision, uniqueness, reliability, tradition, design, innovation … these are just a few of the words that sum up the swiss watchmaking industry – an industry which manages to produce timepieces that are diminutive yet highly complex, traditional yet state - of - the art .
switzerland is synonymous with mountains. not only do they cover one third of the country’s surface area, but they are also of major historical, geopolitical and economic importance. the mountains, for example, have been the selling point of the swiss tourist industry for more than 100 years .
hard cheese, soft cheese, cottage cheese, cheese made in mountain chalets, cheese made in valley factories, cheese shaved into rosettes, cheese boxed in red pine, cheese melted in wine to make fondue, hot cheese dribbled over potatoes to make raclette ...
the swiss vet (vocational education and training) system enables young people to enter the labour market and ensures that there are enough qualified workers and managers in the future .
the main driver of demographic growth in switzerland over the last few decades has been migration .
discover switzerland through more than 20 graphics on the themes of society, the economy, science and the environment .
nobody has known it up to now – or almost nobody. one thing is for certain: the stirring for hours, even days and nights is all part of it: the conching process. cocoa butter? definitely. but how much? hm. and what else ?
today, smooth. the university of houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them .
or many people, thereís nothing quite as satisfying as biting into good quality chocolate. the sweetness. the subtle smoothness as it melts on the tongue. but thatís not the way we find it in nature. a lot of processing takes place first. and one of the most important breakthroughs in making chocolate occurred in 1879 in bern, switzerland .
chocolateís been around for millennia. central and south american cultures are known to have prepared it in much the same way we now prepare coffee. the bitter drink found its way to europe as the result of the spanish conquests and colonization of the americas. in spain, the drink became popular as sweeteners and flavorings were added. other european countries joined the trend, adding their own special flavor enhancements to the hot beverage. such would remain the state of chocolate consumption for roughly another three centuries .
a woman (aline masson) drinking a cup of chocolate, in a canvas by raimundo madrazo. photo credit: wikimedia commons .
the early eighteen - hundreds saw serious efforts to develop chocolate in solid form. but one problem in particular stood out: the texture of the finished product. imagine hard, brittle chocolate. or chocolate that required chewing .
inside the shell of each cocoa bean is the nib, from which cocoa is made. over half of the nib is a natural oil called cocoa butter. chocolate production begins by pressing the nibs to arrive at an oily paste. from there, itís up to the chocolate maker to decide how he wants to proceed .
the actual events leading to the discovery remain a mystery. but the process, known as conching, is a mainstay of modern chocolate production. the constant mixing creates a smoother texture, but it also produces frictional heat which changes the chemical composition of the chocolate. fine chocolates tend to be conched for longer than their less expensive cousins. but short or long, conchingís tailored to bring about desired characteristics in the finished product. itís as important to making chocolate as the ingredients that go into the mix .
and why is it called conching? here again, legend has it that the early machines bore a resemblance to conch shells. but iíll leave that for you to decide. pictures can be found on the engines website .
granite roller and granite base of a conche used by hershey in the early 1900s. photo credit: wikimedia commons .
hershey conche in the early 1900s made by j. m. lehmann in dresden / paris. photo credit: wikimedia commons .
iím andy boyd at the university of houston, where weíre interested in the way inventive minds work .
chocolate. from the wikipedia website: urltoken. accessed july 25, 2016 .
conche. from the wikipedia website: urltoken. accessed july 25, 2016 .
the rest is history. today, you would call it a classic win - win situation. after all, each one of them got exactly what he wanted to get from the other one: here the manufacturer and wealthy businessman from zurich; there the creator of the chocolat fondant and holder of the secret recipe from berne. they had an inkling, but didn' t yet know for sure: the company was about to embark on an unparalleled success story .
in order to increase the cocoa farmers' quality of life... .
during his chocolate production, he saw problems to it. first, he saw that his hard press dried cocoa cakes caused “whitish” coating that repel customers. it also had a rough texture in the mouth and also had bitter taste. also, he saw problems in production. he saw that the pressing of dried cocoa into cakes were labor intensive and back breaking .
grivetti, l. e. chocolate: history, culture, and heritage. new jersey: wiley, 2009 .
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improved the smoothness and melting quality of swiss chocolate by devising a revolutionary method called “conching, ” whereby extra cocoa butter ...
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legend has it that he left a mixing machine on overnight and found later that the extended period of mixing had dramatically affected the chocolate .
experimenting further, he found grinding the ingredients to introduce mechanical friction and heat imparted a delicate flavor, reduced bitterness and a lower melting point .
he subsequently developed a special grinding machine with a long, shell - like, bath - shaped tank, which resembled a conch shell, and his new “conche” machine changed the face of the chocolate business forever .
the trouble with family companies is that the owners tend to behave just like - families. they have rows and disagreements, divorces and inappropriate marriages .
the sprünglis built up a thriving chocolate business during the second half of the 19th century. they started with a small confectionery shop in zurich, then set up a factory at horgen, at the top end of lake zurich .
as chocolate became more fashionable, the sprünglis opened a bigger shop and moved the factory to zurich. in 1892 the business was split. johann rudolf sprüngli - schifferli inherited the factory while his younger brother took over the shops .
during the mid - 1990s, the company was rocked by one of those rows which could only occur in a family business. rudolph sprüngli, the septuagenarian chairman, divorced his wife of 45 years, and four months later announced he had married alexandra gantenbein, a 44 - year - old widow who was a member of an american religious sect .
the new chairman and chief executive ernst tanner came from outside the family but he is determined to fight off would be predators .
the way to stay independent, he told shareholders, was to report record sales and profits. only the products are for swallowing - not the company .
© 2018 guardian news and media limited or its affiliated companies. all rights reserved .
chocolate may be the “food of the gods, ” but for most of its 4, 000 - year history, it was actually consumed as a bitter beverage rather than as a sweet edible treat. anthropologists have found evidence that chocolate was produced by pre - olmec cultures living in present - day mexico as early as 1900 b. c. the ancient mesoamericans who first cultivated cacao plants found in the tropical rainforests of central america fermented, roasted and ground the cacao beans into a paste that they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chili peppers and other spices to brew a frothy chocolate drink .
olmec, mayan and aztec civilizations found chocolate to be an invigorating drink, mood enhancer and aphrodisiac, which led them to believe that it possessed mystical and spiritual qualities. the mayans worshipped a god of cacao and reserved chocolate for rulers, warriors, priests and nobles at sacred ceremonies .
when the aztecs began to dominate mesoamerica in the 14th century, they craved cacao beans, which could not be grown in the dry highlands of central mexico that were the heart of their civilization. the aztecs traded with the mayans for cocao beans, which were so coveted that they were used as currency. (in the 1500s, aztecs could purchase a turkey hen for 100 beans .) by some accounts, the 16th - century aztec emperor montezuma drank three gallons of chocolate a day to increase his libido .
in the 1500s, spanish conquistadors such as hernán cortés who sought gold and silver in mexico returned instead with chocolate. although the spanish sweetened the bitter drink with cane sugar and cinnamon, one thing remained unchanged: chocolate was still a delectable symbol of luxury, wealth and power. chocolate was sipped by royal lips, and only spanish elites could afford the expensive import .
spain managed to keep chocolate a savory secret for nearly a century, but when the daughter of spanish king philip iii wed french king louis xiii in 1615, she brought her love of chocolate with her to france. the popularity of chocolate quickly spread to other european courts, and aristocrats consumed it as a magic elixir with salubrious benefits. to slake their growing thirst for chocolate, european powers established colonial plantations in equatorial regions around the world to grow cacao and sugar. when diseases brought by the european explorers depleted the native mesoamerican labor pool, african slaves were imported to work on the plantations and maintain the production of chocolate .
chocolate remained an aristocratic nectar until dutch chemist coenraad johannes van houten in 1828 invented the cocoa press, which revolutionized chocolate - making. the cocoa press could squeeze the fatty cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving behind a dry cake that could be pulverized into a fine powder that could be mixed with liquids and other ingredients, poured into molds and solidified into edible, easily digestible chocolate. the innovation by van houten ushered in the modern era of chocolate by enabling it to be used as a confectionary ingredient, and the resulting drop in production costs made chocolate affordable to the masses .
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fanny gantenbein likes to recount how her daughter heidi had a premonition that one day she would live in a grand house. the girl from appenzell - the swiss canton that only recently gave women the vote - claimed at an early age to enjoy a gift for knowing things others could not. her present abode more than fulfils the ambitions of those childhood presentiments. a noble villa on the exclusive forch hillside outside zurich, looking over the splendid greifensee, it is in the style of a spanish mansion, with two turrets and three flags, zurich and swiss, fluttering in the garden. an imposing wall suggests only the select few are welcome .
acquiring this exquisite residence was a stroke of luck. just 16 months after 38 - year - old alexandra - a name heidi had adopted as more suited to her new aspirations - had married an ailing 77 - year - old industrialist, max burri, he died. there is no evidence that she played a decisive role in drawing up the contract, six days after the marriage in january 1986, which disinherited the elder burri brother, fritz, and left everything to her. none the less, the reputed sfr4. 5m (pounds 1. 77m) inheritance enabled the widow burri - gantenbein to fulfil her premonition .
until two weeks ago, that is. for on 31 july, four months after leaving his wife of 45 years, rudolph sprungli secretly married alexandra gantenbein, freelance preacher, occasional member of the weird american sect i am, photographic model, waitress and social climber extraordinary. most recently, she has taken to holding meditative seminars at zurich' s finest hotels. hers was a fairy - tale success, but one which, to the conservative noses of zurich' s gilded salons and banking houses, stank to the high heaven with which alexandra gantenbein claimed to be so closely in touch .
upon learning of the clandestine marriage, the l & s managing director, 50 - year - old ulrich geissmann, 12 months in the job and widely credited with having stopped the drift at the company, stormed out.' the situation had become impossible for me,' he said.' the basis of trust was so badly damaged that i simply could not continue.' his private remark was blunter:' the whole thing will blow up like a bomb,' mr geissmann warned .
mr sprungli' s personal public relations adviser, walter senn, obviously thought so too, for he cleared out as well. armed with photographs and reports from mrs gantenbein' s eventful past, he had sought vainly to cool his boss' s ardour. a stunned board of directors were helpless spectators.' this business is horribly tragic,' moaned board member martin hurlimann, who admitted to toying with resignation,' because sprungli says nothing to me any more.' it was all too much for the market. l & s shares plunged 15 per cent in days, the fall only slowed by strong buying by the company' s house bank, credit suisse, ostensibly on orders from mr sprungli himself. overall, the shares lost 20 per cent since may, when it first became clear the couple' s relationship was about more than sharing a cosmic energy plane .
at the end of last week, the shares were boosted somewhat by takeover rumours. there are obvious candidates. nestle and philip morris / jacobs suchard in switzerland, cadbury schweppes, which is looking to improve its continental position, and a stronger contender, hershey foods of the us, which has declared europe as a priority. once this flutter passed, however, the shares continued to sag. analysts who weeks previously had been recommending l & s as a good buy could suddenly no longer see the turnover for the leg - over.' what does the woman want?' asks roger birrer of bank julius baer' everyone wonders, no one knows. we all feel so powerless.' a top private banker is less reticent.' it' s dangerous. i would not touch it with a bargepole.'
dangerous - simply because a single - minded septuagenarian falls for a fascinating, attractive woman 28 years his junior? a more charitable view might have been that the liaison proved the old man has more sprungli in his step than many had imagined, and that this must be good for the company, which has prospered under his autocratic leadership. although underperforming its potential, in the view of analysts (it has a price / earnings ratio of around nine, instead of the 15 seen in the best food companies worldwide), l & s has internationally been highly regarded as a solid, more - than - respectable business. cash - rich, with a strong market position, the company has grown in recent years by purchasing outright its licensees in france and germany. net sales last year amounted to sfr765m, an increase of 9 per cent .
it did have its problems however, which is why mr geissmann' s departure is causing such alarm. a former top food manager with the giant swiss retailer migros, he was appointed last year to take firm control of a galleon that had gone gently adrift. too little attention had been paid to costs. the atmosphere was wrong. mr geissmann' s departure at the beginning of this month left l & s without an operational head for the fourth time in six years. too many senior managers had left or been discarded .
rudolph sprungli, who had, since the seventies, carefully worked himself into a position where he exercised control with an estimated 40 per cent of the company' s shares, was debited with increasingly eccentric decisions. it is no coincidence, insiders say, that things got worse from the time alexandra gantenbein appeared on the scene early in 1990. she impressed the patriarch sufficiently to become his' special personnel adviser'. mrs gantenbein' s influence is rumoured to have played a key role in the stormy break - up between rudolph sprungli and his elder son, 41 - year - old rudolf k, forcing the latter to leave the company last year. not only did it cause deep dismay in the company, it led ineluctably to the elder sprungli' s divorce in march this year .
it was this troubled atmosphere that ulrich geissmann entered, under the clear condition that his authority would not be undermined by other influences. he set about restructuring, slimming the product line, reducing costs. analysts were enthused.' he was doing a fine job,' says rene weber of vontobel bank,' which is why his departure was felt to be such a blow.'
the marriage had confirmed mr geissman' s worst fears: that alexandra gantenbein' s mariage certificate was going to prove more powerful than his managing director' s contract. this was what the private banker had been referring to when he described events at l & s as' dangerous'. as a company so strongly in the grip of one man, it is also particularly exposed to his vagaries.' it does not take much, in such a case, for total control to become out of control,' says mr birrer of julius baer .
alexandra heidi burri - sprungli - gantenbein' s involvement with a religious sect and her impressive ability to improve her station in life, thanks to elderly male benefactors, gave, in the eyes of many, a rather more sinister shade to what might otherwise have provoked little more than a knowing smile .
' is she a legacy - hunter?' wonders roger birrer, asking the question on everyone' s lips. the analysts are not just acting nervously, they
are traumatised. for they fear that tragedy may be about to repeat itself. the movenpick affair is still fresh in their minds .
it, too, began as a love story. the 52 - year - old ueli prager, owner of the movenpick food and restaurant chain, met 25 - year - old jutta bergus, a secretary at a building society, while he was in hospital with a broken leg. they married, and the youthful wife enjoyed an exhilarating rise up the company ladder to become managing director. the internal ructions were enormous, as senior staff fled the falling masonry. eventually the marriage collapsed. but by then, so too, had mr prager' s grip on movenpick. in february of this year, he sold out ignominiously to the munich - based entrepreneur august von finck .
whenever the analysts say gantenbein, their nervous lips suggest movenpick.' some similarities are already there,' says rene weber.' the old man takes a much younger wife; her influence grows in the company; the managing director leaves.' it would be the next theoretical step that the market cannot bear to think about: alexandra sprungli - gantenbein becoming managing director of l & s.' that would be a disaster,' says roger birrer.' it would not be tolerated.'
it was in an effort to staunch such speculation that rudolph sprungli went to the unusual length, nine days after the wedding, of issuing a public statement. it said that' there never was and is today no discussion about giving my wife, alexandra sprungli - gantenbein, operational responsibilities in the firm.' he dismissed the rich panoply of revelations and speculation about his wife' s past as' calumny' .
since the wedding, alexandra sprungli - gantenbein has not ventured from her gilded fortress, complete with bronzed american bodyguard. her husband, by contrast, shows every sign of being on top of the world, driven to work each day with a broad smile on his face. after all, he has done what he likes doing best - getting his own way. this is the man who, when the local rotary club failed to elect him president, started a rival branch on the other shore of the lake. rudolph sprungli did not need to be bewitched in order to ride roughshod over the wishes and opinions of others .
it was in such a defiant mood in may this year that, two months after separating from his 68 - year - old wife, elisabeth sprungli - halter, mr sprungli announced to a stunned zurich society that he was to wed alexandra gantenbein. the couple then left for a pre - nuptial honeymoon in the us. the horrified board of directors sought to use this respite to prepare its defences. upon returning to zurich, mr sprungli was somewhat surprised to find his pr adviser urging him to stay on the plane, while his bride - to - be was whisked away in a limousine. then, in the vip lounge, walter senn went through everything he had collected on mrs gantenbein' s past .
the patriarch was moved. he faxed his bride - to - be, announcing that the wedding was off. alexandra gantenbein no longer held her post as' special personnel adviser'. but if the visibly relieved management of l & s thought that the old man' s new obsession could be so easily exorcised, they were badly mistaken. rudolph sprungli withdrew in on himself, not turning up to rotary club meetings, avoiding close friends. he hired a new driver, who had nothing to do with the company, so keeping his movements to himself. for his contacts with alexandra gantenbein had not been broken off .
none the less, the relief all round was palpable. not only had the marriage been averted, the distinguished company had escaped any cult influence. the rejoicing was short - lived. for rudolph sprungli felt vindicated. two days after the board had approved the kpmg fides report, without informing anyone in the company, mr sprungli revived his original plan and married mrs gantenbein at the civil register office. two anonymous witnesses were present .
rarely can such a modest nuptial have caused such commotion in zurich. the better society, resorting to the most potent insult it could think of, accused the sprunglis of behaving like the british royal family .
for the curious, there is still a chance to sign up for alexandra sprungli - gantenbein' s preaching sessions, which begin again in the autumn. there, if past form is any guide, participants will be treated to discourses on the correct consistency and proper aroma of human excreta, along with various teachings from the philosophy of the i am sect. founded in the thirties in the us by guy ballard, a mining engineer, it believes in reincarnation .
cult members claim to have secret powers drawn from a field of pure energy, known as the' beloved mighty i am presence', which hovers above their heads. at its peak in the late thirties, the cult was reckoned to have between a million and three million members, but it dwindled after the death of mr ballard (who was supposed to be immortal) in 1939, which was closely followed by an indictment of other leaders for fraud. nevertheless it still has some life, and there are believed to be about 200 members in switzerland alone .
the rather more down - to - earth analysts, meanwhile, are looking for less ethereal signs that all is not lost at l & s. the first and most important move will be the appointment of a new managing director. only the brave are likely to be tempted to take on the challenge. for the new man may be dealing not merely with a company at odds with itself, but possibly with cosmic beings as well... -
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rodolphe lindt , actually rudolf lindt , ( july 16 , 1855 – february 20 , 1909 ) was a swiss chocolate manufacturer and inventor . he founded the lindt chocolate factory and invented the conching machine and other processes to improve the quality of chocolate . 
rodolphe lindt, actually rudolf lindt, (july 16, 1855 – february 20, 1909) was a swiss chocolate manufacturer and inventor. he founded the lindt chocolate factory and invented the conching machine and other processes to improve the quality of chocolate.
rodolphe lindt, actually rudolf lindt, (july 16, 1855 – february 20, 1909) was a swiss chocolate manufacturer and inventor. he founded the lindt chocolate factory and invented the conching machine and other processes to improve the quality of chocolate.