Hans Imhoff
His life story
He was born in 1922 as the son of a master locksmith in Cologne's Fleischmengergasse, not far from Neumarkt. His love of chocolate was awakened in his earliest childhood - above all by the aroma of chocolate produced in the nearby Stollwerck factory that drifted through the city. However, it is possible that the Rhenish entrepreneur's later passion had more to do with a shortcoming in his early years than anything else: As Hans Imhoff's family could not afford chocolate, he had to - as he later described it himself - simply "smell his fill". This led to an enthusiasm for the "brown gold" that Hans Imhoff would never let go of for the rest of his life and which resulted in a unique post-war career. He spent almost his entire life with and for chocolate. Initially in Bullay on the Moselle, where he founded his own successful chocolate factory after the war. Later in Cologne, where he restructured the traditional Stollwerck Group and turned it back into a leading company in the industry.