Answer: Germany

Although it’s hard to imagine the world without the ubiquitous and delicious little candies, there was once a time when people had to live dull lives devoid of the color and sweet pleasure of gummy bears.

The chewy little candies were invented in 1922 by the German confectioner Hans Riegel, Sr. Reigel founded the Haribo company in 1920 and just a couple of years later, inspired by the trained bears that performed during festivals throughout Europe in the 19th century, created fruit-flavored gummy candies made from gum arabic shaped like the festive bears. They were known as Tanzbär or “Dancing Bears” and much larger than modern gummy bears.

Despite the economic downturn and hyperinflation that plagued Germany during the Weimar era, Reigel’s gummy bears never went out of production. Throughout the era you could find pairs of large gummy bears at the market for a mere penny; children and adults alike enjoyed them as a simple and cheap respite from the unpleasantries of living in such an economically distressed time.

What we now think of when we think of gummy bears, small little bears that fit in your hand by the dozen, weren’t introduced by the Haribo company until 1967 when the Goldbär (Gold-Bears) made an appearance. Haribo Gold-Bears have been in production ever since and remain the best selling gummy bear candy on the market by a wide margin.