The Speyer pretzel

The pretzel is closely intertwined with Speyer. 

The pretzel is Speyer's official "fan logo" and the Brezelfest is the city's nationally recognised fair. Speyer's "Brezelbu", the pretzel boy, indicates to locals and visitors at several traffic lights whether they should walk or stand still. You can even meet the pretzel queen in person on the street and you can book Brezel-Ferdinand for a pretzel tour of the city (German only).

Pretzel houses along Maximilianstraße sell the pretzel pastries, one of which is even a listed building on Postplatz. And at the time-honoured cathedral, a figure with a pretzel can be seen in the brickwork at the top left of the main portal.

According to legend, only something as beautiful as love could have created the real Speyer pretzel. In order to be allowed to marry his daughter, a master baker is said to have assigned his journeyman the task of making a pastry through which the sun would shine three times. The journeyman is said to have had the brilliant idea when he saw his future mother-in-law standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. He quickly moulded the pretzel, but then the cat jumped onto the table and knocked over the container of lye. There was no more time for new dough and the pretzel was baked. The result was successful and tasty. This is how the wedding was celebrated and we Speyerers love our pretzels to this day.

There are similar stories from other cities - but we in Speyer are certain that one of our bakers was the originator of the pretzel shape. 

There is historical evidence that the pretzel goes back to the Roman ring bread from around 200 BC. In the 2nd century, Christians adopted it in a smaller form as bread for communion. The shape changed over the centuries. First the ring was opened, then shaped like a 6 and finally there were two sixes facing each other.

Whether the sixes were actually intertwined in Speyer remains to be seen...

The pretzel has probably been baked in Speyer since the 12th century. The first guild coat of arms of the Speyer bakers was created in 1327 and showed two pretzels. There were also coats of arms with a pretzel. The guild coat of arms of the Speyer Bakers' Guild, which is still valid today, shows two lions holding a pretzel.

The Speyer pretzel weighs around 80 grams and is baked in the Berzel pretzel bakery in the Lauergasse. However, the weight is not standardised. The pretzel consists of wheat flour, malt, salt, baker's yeast, fat, water and caustic soda. It is not known how many pretzels are baked in a year, but tens of thousands are made and eaten at the Brezelfest alone. 

According to tradition, the Brezelfest originated at the beginning of the 20th century at a meeting of the Speyer Tourist Association (today Verkehrsverein Speyer e.V.). The background to the idea of organising a large festival was to generate sales for the 50 or so bakers, ten breweries and six cigar factories during a period of economic downturn. The association's website records the course of the meeting that led to the creation of the festival (German only).

Today, the Brezelfest is one of the largest public festivals on the Upper Rhine and is still organised by the Verkehrsverein.

The Brezelfest (website German only) takes place in July and is a fixed date in the calendar for us in Speyer. For many people who have moved away, the festival is an opportunity to come back home and to cultivate old friendships. New friends are of course always welcome!