Confectionery Factory "Kopernik"

Confectionery company, 1763, Toruń, Poland

The Confectionery Factory "Kopernik" is a firm producing gingerbread and other sweets, based in Toruń, Poland. Its headquarters is located at 34 Stanisława Żółkiewskiego street in Toruń.^[1] Still operating today, it is the oldest confectionery company in Poland,^[2] established in 1763.^[3]

History

Johann Weese's factory

The gingerbread factory was founded in 1763 by Johann Weese (1731–1775). He was the son of Christina née Glaser and Gottfried Weese, a shopkeeper who settled in Toruń from Gdańsk in 1728.^[4]

From April 1747 Johann learnt the trade of gingerbread baking from Melchior Friebe.^[4] After Friebe's death around 1760, Johann Weese married his widow Elżbieta née Lorentz. As a result of the marriage, he became the owner of Melchior's gingerbread factory. Elżbieta died around 1762 and bequeathed the estate to her husband and her daughter Dorota Elżbieta Mędzikowska (from her first marriage). On February 14, 1763, Johann Weese married Dorotha Schreiber, the widow of Johann Samuel Schreiber the younger, another gingerbread master, .^[4]

In 1763 Johann founded his own gingerbread workshop, located today at 5/9 Małe Garbary street in Toruń.^[5]

Johann Weese died on March 9, 1775, of dropsy. His wife Dorotha ran the plant until her demise in 1796. At this time, the factory fell into the hands of her younger son, Andreas Michael Weese.^[4]

Prussian period

In the middle of the 19th century the Weese family owned several production plots in Toruń: at 9/11 Sadlarska street (currently 20 Królowej Jadwigi street), 3 Strumykowa and 5/9 Małe Garbary street.

In 1885 a thorough reconstruction of the factory at 4 Strumykowa street was launched.^[6]

The aging gingerbread workshops were transformed into a larger, modern factory by Johann's grandson, Gustav. In 1908-1913 he decided to build a modern factory at Fritz-Reutersstrasse (currently Żółkiewskiego Street), where the entire production was eventually moved in 1914.^[6] Under Gustav's management, the plant increased its exports to countries like Turkey, China, Japan and Australia.^[1]

In 1908 the company was employing 105 workers.^[5]

Interwar and WWII period

In the interwar period over 200 employees worked in Weese's plant. In 1939, the company was purchased by the Polish Cooperative Społem (Polish: Krajowy Związek Rewizyjny Spółdzielni Spożywców „Społem").^[7] The same year, gingerbread baked in old wooden molds from the Weese factory was presented at the New York World's Fair.^[7]

During World War II the factory was destroyed and most of the equipment was stolen by the German occupying forces.

PRL Period (1946–1989)

Rebuilt at the end of the conflict, the gingerbread plant was taken over by the Confectionery Industry Association based in Warsaw. In 1951, the factory was renamed Gingerbread and Confectionery Factory "Kopernik" (Polish: Fabryka Pierników i Wyrobów Cukierniczych "Kopernik"), gathering all the employees who were working in Toruń in the different plants before WWII (Weese, Thomas Hermann, Jan Ruchniewocz...).^[7]

Throughout the entire PRL period "Kopernik" was the only producer of Toruń gingerbread in the country.

Recent period

In 1991 the business was privatized and changed into a joint-stock company, Fabryka Cukiernicza "Kopernik" SA. At that time, it was the first confectionery company in Poland to be privatized in the form of employee shareholding.^[3]

Since 2003 "Kopernik" Confectionery Factory has been the main sponsor of a campaign honoring famous Toruń residents, located on the Gingerbread Alley of Stars in Toruń (Polish: Piernikowa Aleja Gwiazd w Toruniu) at the Dwór Artus.^[8] Nowadays, "Kopernik" has around 250 personnel.^[2]

Toruńskie Gingerbread now reaches Great Britain thanks to a cooperation with Tesco as well as Morocco and Taiwan through Auchan selling network.^[3]

Since 2015, the 1885 former factory at 4 Strumykowa street, designed by Reinhard Uebrick, has been housing the Toruń Gingerbread Museum, as a branch of the District Museum in Toruń.^[9]

The Toruń-based professional basketball team is named Twarde Pierniki Toruń (Hard Gingerbread Toruń).

Products

Source:^[1]

"Katarzynka", a unique-shape chocolate-coated gingerbread cake, which dates back to Johann Weese's 1763 era;
"Toruńskie Pierniki", small size chunk of gingerbread cakes, with various flavors;
"Wafel Teatralny", a waffle launched in the PRL period;^[3]
"Z Serca Fabryki" (From the factory heart), a brand encompassing various gingerbread cakes ("Serca Toruńskie", stuffed "Pierniki Nadziewane", "Uszatki"...);
Waflowe (Waffle);
"Bagatelka", a crispy, light cookie with raisins and fruit filling.

The gingerbread recipe did not change since the 16th century.^[3]

Gallery

Gustav Weese 1885 factory. Now Toruń Gingerbread Museum
Current "Kopernik" factory
"Kopernik - Uszatki
3Kopernik" - Serca Toruńskie

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "contact". kopernik.com.pl. Kopernik Toruń. 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b Otorun (13 April 2016). "Najstarsza firma cukiernicza w Polsce – "Kopernik" z Torunia". ototorun.pl. CMC media. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ciechoński, Tomasz (11 December 2015). "Chcą nas wykupić od 25 lat. Nie oddamy piernika nikomu". torun.wyborcza.pl. Agora SA. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dygdała, Jerzy (2020). O początkach firmy piernikarskiej Weese, transporcie miodu i nadgorliwych celnikach w 1767 roku. "Rocznik Toruński" 47 [About the beginnings of the Weese gingerbread company, honey transport and overzealous customs officers in 1767. Toruń Yearbook 47] (in Polish). Toruń: PWN. pp. 235–243.
^ ^a ^b Wajda, Kazimierz (2003). Życie gospodarcze miasta (1815–1914). W: Historia Torunia. T. 3: Cz. 1. W czasach zaboru pruskiego (1793–1920) [The economic life of the city (1815–1914). In: History of Toruń. Vol. 3: Vol. 1. During the Prussian partition (1793–1920)] (in Polish). Toruń: Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Warszawie, Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu. p. 143,159. ISBN 83-87639-58-3.
^ ^a ^b KUCHARZEWSKA, JOANNA (2017). Historia rodziny Weese – fabrykantów toruńskich pierników – i jej inwestycje budowlane w Toruniu [The history of the Weese family – Toruń gingerbread manufacturers – and their construction investments in Toruń] (in Polish). Toruń: Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Warszawie, Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu. ISBN 978-83-231-3465-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rychter, Karolina (30 March 2023). "Anna Kornelia Jędrzejewska: Długa historia toruńskiego piernika". culture.pl. Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
^ Ziółkiewicz, Antoni (2009). Toruńskie pomniki. Pomniki, tablice, kamienie [Toruń monuments. Monuments, plaques, stones] (in Polish). Toruń: Wydawnictwo Urbański. p. 93. ISBN 978-83-88219-32-0.
^ Duch, Wojtek (17 April 2015). "Muzeum Toruńskiego Piernika zostanie otwarte w czerwcu". historia.org.pl. Historia. Retrieved 7 October 2023.