Carl Brandt (baker)
Carl Brandt (born July 5, 1886 in Haspe ; † January 19, 1965 ) was a German entrepreneur in the food industry who founded the Märkische rusk and biscuit factory C. & F. Brandt GmbH in 1912 and expanded it to become the market leader - today's Brandt Rusk chocolates GmbH + Co. KG .
Life
Carl Brandt completed an apprenticeship as a baker and confectioner after school . As a journeyman , he worked for various masters and eventually hired as a ship's confectioner on a passenger ship. He crossed the Atlantic seven times and recognized the importance of “dry food” (toasted bread, rusks and biscuits) on the ship and in the New World and learned about modern production methods, such as assembly line production .
When he returned to his Westphalian homeland, his father left him a small house in Haspe, and in 1912 Carl Brandt began to set up his own business as a baker. Contrary to what was usual at the time, he specialized in rusks and biscuits from the start and planned their industrial and rational production from the start. In the mornings he took care of production, in the afternoons he took care of sales by delivering to the surrounding shops and markets in a horse-drawn vehicle. Shortly afterwards, his brother Fritz Brandt also joined the company. But the First World War interrupted production and both brothers were drafted. After the war, the reconstruction began. On Enneper Straße in Haspe they built new, larger plants in 1920/21 in which modern chain ovens were used and in which over 600 employees were employed in 1937.
During this time, two inventions were attributed to Carl Brandt: a rusk slicing machine for which a patent was pending, which accelerated the production process and thus represented a competitive advantage, and later also the three-layer fresh-keeping pouch, which made quality products more practical and cheaper to keep them fresh.
In 1938 his wife Abby Brandt died, his son Carl-Heinz did not return from the Second World War . Despite these strokes of fate, Carl Brandt mastered the new beginning for the third time. Immediately after the end of the war, bread was baked again at Brandt to supply the population. The production facilities were gradually renewed and expanded. Carl Brandt died on January 19, 1965, and his second wife Betty Brandt took over the management of the plant.
Awards
- 1956: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
literature
- Carl Brandt , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 48/1956 from November 19, 1956, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patent specification No. 622 883, Reich Patent Office, December 7, 1935
- ↑ Carl Brandt (ed.): Gift of the gods. Memorable, strange and enjoyable things from the honorable art of baking, then and now. For the 60th anniversary of the Brandt company. Brandt, Hagen-Haspe 1972.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brandt, Carl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur in the food industry |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 5, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hasp |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 19, 1965 |