Editing Lindt (section)

===Founding and early years===
{{multiple image
|align = left
|total_width = 250
|image1 = Rodolphe lindt portrait c1881.jpg
|image2 = David sprungli portrait.jpg
|footer = Rodolphe Lindt (left) and [[David Sprüngli]], founders
}}
The origins of the company date back to 1836, when [[David Sprüngli]] (1776–1862) and his son Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann (1816–1897)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Squicciarini|first=Mara P.|title=The Economics of Chocolate|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> bought a small confectionery shop in the old town of [[Zürich]], producing chocolates under the name David Sprüngli & Son. Before they moved to [[Paradeplatz]] in 1845, they established a small factory where they produced their chocolate in solidified form in 1838.

When Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann retired in 1892, he gave two equal parts of the business to his sons. The younger brother David Robert received two confectionery stores that became known under the name [[Confiserie Sprüngli]]. The elder brother Johann Rudolf received the chocolate factory. To raise the necessary finances for his expansion plans, Johann Rudolf then converted his private company into "Chocolat Sprüngli AG" in 1899. In that same year, he acquired the chocolate factory of [[Rodolphe Lindt]] (1855–1909) in [[Bern]], which Lindt had founded in 1879,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/cocoa-kings_the-pioneers-of-switzerland-s--chocolate-revolution-/43592024|title=The pioneers of Switzerland's 'Chocolate Revolution'|date=13 December 2017|website=swissinfo.ch|access-date=18 January 2024|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104171535/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/cocoa-kings_the-pioneers-of-switzerland-s--chocolate-revolution-/43592024|url-status=live}}</ref> and the company changed its name to "Aktiengesellschaft Vereinigte Berner und Zürcher Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli" (United Bern and Zurich Lindt and Sprungli Chocolate Factory Ltd.).<ref name="lindtusa1">{{cite web|title=Story of Lindt|url=https://www.lindtusa.com/story-of-lindt|website=LindtUSA|access-date=20 November 2016|language=en|archive-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719102217/https://www.lindtusa.com/story-of-lindt|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although solid [[milk chocolate]] had been invented in Switzerland in 1875, Lindt first began producing milk chocolate in 1934. Before, it only produced dark chocolate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lindt-spruengli.com/about-us/history |title=About Lindt |access-date=21 May 2022 |archive-date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527175503/https://www.lindt-spruengli.com/about-us/history |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1936, Lindt & Sprüngli signed a production licence agreement with the German company Leonard Monheim AG. In 1986, Lindt & Sprüngli took over production and since then, the majority of its internationally distributed products are manufactured in [[Aachen]] near the Westbahnhof.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gesichter einer Stadt - WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/article109631442/Gesichter-einer-Stadt.html |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-07-20 |title=Hartes Brot |url=https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/hartes-brot-a-90e81b40-0002-0001-0000-000013518911 |access-date=2024-09-06 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=16 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216151200/https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/hartes-brot-a-90e81b40-0002-0001-0000-000013518911 |url-status=live }}</ref>