The gummy bear started as a "dancing bear" modelled on a real street performance act, two years after Hans Riegel founded the company that would put it on shelves worldwide.
1920 company, 1922 invention
Hans Riegel Sr. founded Haribo (from Hans Riegel Bonn) in Bonn, Germany, in 1920. Just two years later, in 1922, he created the product the company is now best known for worldwide: a small gum candy shaped like a bear.
Named after a real dancing bear act
- Tanzbär — Riegel's original name for the sweet, German for "dancing bear."
- Inspired by street performers — trained dancing bears were a common sight at German fairs and markets in the early 20th century, and the sweet's upright, leggy shape was modelled directly on them.
- Taller and leaner than today's bear — the original Tanzbär looked noticeably different from the squat, rounded shape everyone now associates with a gummy bear.
The redesign that became the template
In the 1960s, Haribo reworked the shape into the shorter, chubbier "Goldbären" (Gold-Bears) design. That redesign — not the original 1922 Tanzbär — is the shape every competitor has copied since, to the point that "gummy bear" now means Goldbären's proportions by default rather than Riegel's original.
From one company's product to an entire category
Because Haribo never patented the shape itself, gummy bears spread far beyond the company that invented them, and the format is now made by dozens of brands worldwide in every flavour and colour combination imaginable. You'll find Haribo's own Haribo range alongside other sour and fruit gum options in our sweets selection — all tracing back to one bear shape from Bonn in 1922.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented the gummy bear?
Hans Riegel Sr., the founder of Haribo, created the first gummy bear in 1922 in Bonn, Germany, two years after starting the company in 1920.
Why was the first gummy bear called a "dancing bear"?
Riegel's original design, called "Tanzbär" (dancing bear), was directly inspired by the trained dancing bears that performed at German street festivals and markets at the time — a taller, leaner shape than today's version.
When did the modern, smaller gummy bear shape appear?
Haribo redesigned the bear into the shorter, rounder "Goldbären" (Gold-Bears) shape in the 1960s, and that version — not the original Tanzbär — is the shape that every other gummy bear on the market has since copied.