Pretzel history has a few interesting twists

Eat more pretzels. They are good for your soul…especially during Lent, which continues through March 28 this year.

 

The Rev. Johann Roten of the University of Dayton (Ohio) said the tradition of eating pretzels during Lent goes back to the 5th century. “Apparently, there is even a manuscript in the Vatican Library dating from that period, which shows a Lenten pretzel,” he said.

The soft pretzel was “invented” around 610 by monks near Aosta in northern Italy, said the late Galen Haar, a historian with AIB International (formerly the American Institute of Baking), based in Manhattan, Kan.

 

The pretzel was “created by monks as a way to use leftover unleavened communion bread dough. It is believed the monks originally gave pretzels as treats to children who had successfully learned their prayers,” Haar said.

“The typical three-loop shape may have been created as a way to show how the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) interact and overlap in Christian theology. It also has been proposed that this shape represented the typical posture of people in prayer at that time in history (arms crossed over their chest with head bowed),” Haar said.

 

“During the Middle Ages, Christians were forbidden to prepare foods that contained eggs, milk, butter and lard during the season of Lent. This tradition made the pretzel – made only of flour, salt and water – a popular pre-Easter food,” Haar added. 

According to the CatholicCulture.org website, “Lent is a period of fasting, self-denial and prayer, in imitation of our Lord’s fasting, 40 days and 40 nights, and in preparation for the feast of Easter.” It was also customary for churches to give pretzels to needy townspeople during Lent, as a way of providing them with both spiritual and literal sustenance.

 

In 1510, pretzels helped save the nation of Austria. Historians said that when Ottoman Turks attempted to invade Vienna, by digging tunnels beneath the city’s walls, monks baking pretzels in the basement of a monastery heard the noise. By alerting the rest of the city, the monks aided in thwarting the Turkish attack. The monks were credited with shielding all of Europe from invasion by the Turks. 

As a reward, the Austrian emperor commissioned a coat of arms for the pretzel bakers, featuring two fierce lions holding a crowned pretzel. (Pretzels are still used to this very day as Christmas tree toppers in Austria.)

 

Eventually, the pretzel’s form became a symbol of good luck, long life and prosperity. The archivist at Invermere Bakery in Invermere, British Columbia, Canada, said: “It is speculated that the term ‘tying the knot’ originated in Switzerland in 1614 when couples wished for happiness with a pretzel forming the nuptial knot.” During the ceremony, the new couple would make a wish and break the pretzel, eating the pieces to signify their oneness.

 

In the 1700s, German immigrants brought the popular snack to America, with many pretzel bakeries opening in Pennsylvania. 

From the website of Pretzels.com of Delray Beach, Fla., we learn the story about a male itinerant baker who deboarded the train in Lititz, Pa. The man followed his nose to Julius Sturgis’ bakery to ask for a job and a meal. Sturgis had no work for the man but fed him dinner. 

To express his gratitude, the man gave Sturgis a recipe for hard pretzels before he moved on. Sturgis tried out the crispy pretzels with his family.

 

“A hit, Sturgis began selling pretzels in his bakery in 1861, where they became such a popular snack that he couldn’t keep up with as many pretzels as people wanted.”