Scho-Ka-Kola

Did You Know?

• In 1969, German chocolate producer Hans Imhoff took over the Hildebrand chocolate company.
• A US trademark filing for SCHO-KA-KOLA by Waldbaur GmbH was abandoned in 2001 after a dispute by The Coca-Cola Company.
• Current production is by a subsidiary in Berlin, and the product is available across Germany and in a limited number of foreign countries.

History

The name Scho-Ka-Kola is an abbreviation of Schokolade–Kaffee–Kolanuss. The chocolate was created in 1935 and patented by the Hildebrand, Kakao- und Schokoladenfabrik, a firm established by chocolatier Theodor Hildebrand in Alt-Berlin. It debuted at the 1936 Summer Olympics as a performance-enhancing energy product called Sportschokolade. Production also occurred at B. Sprengel & Co. in Hannover, which was recognized in 1936 as an important pre-war economy operation, and at other German chocolate manufacturers. During World War II, Scho-Ka-Kola was known colloquially as Fliegerschokolade because it was issued to Luftwaffe pilots and crew to promote wakefulness, particularly on night-bombing missions. It was also supplied in blue canisters as emergency sea-survival rations. The chocolate was distributed to German tank crews, U-boat crews, and the German Army. During the occupation, the Allies gave it to the German population. Wehrmacht-issue packs were marked Wehrmacht-Packung on the underside and came in metal tins or cardboard containers. The chocolate appears three times in Johann Voss's World War II autobiography Black Edelweiss. Voss, whose real name is unknown, joined the Waffen-SS in 1943 at age 17 and served in the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord in Northern Finland. He recounts that round tin boxes of Scho-Ka-Kola were issued during heavy fighting against the Soviet Union. He also states that during Operation Northwind, specifically in Reipertswiller, France, from 16 to 20 January 1945, Scho-Ka-Kola was given to captured American troops as a gesture of respect. Voss describes the chocolate as pure luxury, noting each round tin held two discs of dark chocolate laced with caffeine from coffee beans.