Karol Wedel

Karol Ernest Wedel (1813 – 1902) was a candy maker of German ancestry and member of the Wedel family, who settled in (then partitioned) Poland.

He was a member of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland.

Wedel was a German candy maker who came to Warsaw at the beginning of 1845 and began to work with Karol Grohnert, who was an owner of a confectionery store at 12 Piwna Street. The collaboration between them was a success and won them a large group of loyal customers.

Soon afterwards, around 1851, Wedel became financially independent and opened his own store at 12 Miodowa Street, and next door, a steam-powered factory making chocolates. His company, E.Wedel would grow to become a leading confectionery company in Poland. A year later, he introduced his widely popular "karmelki smietankowe" ("cream caramels"); the caramels' success was aided by a successful advertising campaign in "Kurier Warszawski" newspaper.

Another product made popular by Wedel was hot chocolate. The store was selling over fifty cups a day. As the years passed, more products, such as the chocolates "Brilliant" and "Dessert", were introduced.

Wedel married Karolina Wisnowska (1819-1893), daughter of another famous Warsaw candy and sweets maker. In 1864, Wedel's son, Emil Albert Fredryk Wedel (1841-1919) returned from an apprenticeship tour of confectioneries in Germany, Switzerland, England, and France, and received a Ph.D. in chemistry (in particular food chemistry). He immediately started helping run the family business. In 1876, his father gave him the company as a wedding gift on the very day of his marriage.