Weber, Johannes Martin Erich

Weber, Johannes Martin Erich (1885–1961), was arguably the premier publisher of confectionery trade manuals in their golden age between the two world wars. He established his baking school and publishing and supply houses in Dresden, Germany, in 1911, moving them in the early 1920s to Dresden’s suburb, Radebeul, where they remained until being closed by the Communist government in 1948.

While the creations Weber presented in his books, and the books themselves, were as lavish as those of his competitors, what really set his volumes apart was their breadth of readership. From 1913 to 1929, Weber marketed his works to an international audience by publishing the texts in multiple languages rather than in separate supplements. For example, his first publication, Practical Confectionery Art (Praktische Konditorei-Kunst), appeared in at least eight editions, including one in German, Danish, Czech, and Dutch; another in German, Swedish, Spanish, and English; and an all-English version intended exclusively for American readers. To make his typically long German titles easier to remember, he abbreviated some of them into snappy nicknames, such as Pra-Ko-Ku for Praktische Konditorei-Kunst.