Very little is known about Baumann’s early life prior to his association with the development of Toblerone. A report published in
Der Bund in 1962 commemorating his birthday stated that he was involved in the
chocolate industry at an early age. When he was 16, he was already working for chocolate factories in
Bern. In 1899, Baumann co-founded the Tobler Chocolate Factory with his cousin,
Theodor Tobler, in Bern, Switzerland. There are sources that cited he studied confectionery production at Metz. A variation of this account said that he went there under the direction of Tobler to learn confectionery trade secrets. Baumann is credited with concocting the Toblerone chocolate bar. During a trip to
France, he came across the
Montélimar nougat, a
confectionery made from
honey,
almond, and
sugar. He then integrated it into a chocolate product, which became the company’s flagship chocolate, Toblerone. Tobler is said to have worked on the packaging and the product’s triangular shape was inspired by the Matterhorn, Switzerland’s famous mountain peak. Baumann and Tobler registered the Toblerone product for a patent at Bern’s Federal Institute for Intellectual Property in 1909, when a young
Albert Einstein was working there as a patent clerk. After two years, they were granted a patent for Toblerone, making it the world’s first patented milk chocolate bar. Baumann later immigrated to the
United States and lived in
Nevada. He died on February 4, 1966. ==Controversy==