Brunswick honey cake

Advertisement from 1884 by Johannes Fischer , founded in 1796, Braunschweig court supplier for honey cakes and other baked goods.

Braunschweiger Honigkuchen is a special honey cake from Braunschweig with a honey content of 50% that has been proven since the 16th century .

history

The Braunschweig honey cake bakers formed their own guild since at least the 16th century, separate from the other bakers (sugar, gingerbread , lot or white, fast or black bakers ) . In 1671 there were six master honey cake bakers in the city . Most of the honey was obtained from Lüneburg . For a while, honey cake bakers were not allowed to bake their own goods, called “stuff”. Instead, they were forced to have their "stuff" (including honey cakes and pepper nuts , known in Braunschweig known as knapnuts and aniseed cakes ) baked at a white baker for a fee. The Braunschweig honey bakers did not receive their own guild order until 1703, but this was not confirmed and they were initially also not allowed to use their own oven. The town's honey cake bakers have had their own seal since 1704 . Although there had been during the 18th century several times to connections between white and Honigkuchenbäcken, it was not until 1799 that the old brick privileges were breached and the gingerbread bakers in town one with baking justice could arise provided house with oven, and even had to. Initially a distinction was made between the various bakers, but after 1822 their guilds finally merged with one another.

Advertisement by Emil Wasmus from 1914.

Like the Braunschweiger Mumme since the late Middle Ages and the Braunschweiger Wurst since the early modern period , the locally produced honey cake was also known beyond the borders of the city and duchy , so that domestic production in the 18th and 19th centuries was mostly intended for export . It was not until the widespread destruction in Braunschweig by Allied bombing attacks during the Second World War , as well as the associated dramatic demographic change (e.g. due to flight and displacement ) in the city, that the local honey cake bakery declined in the post-war period . In 1945 there were only three honey cake bakers in the city, including the companies Emil Wasmus in Cammanstraße 6 and Hans Mahn , who had his factory in Eulenstraße, the former Uhlentwete . Today, Braunschweig honey cake is again produced on a small scale, including according to the original recipe by Hans Mahn.

public perception

"Among the goods manufactured by the craftsmen, several articles are valued and some are used for export, including the Braunschweig honey cake [...]"

- Georg Hassel , Karl Friedrich Bege : Geographical-statistical description of the principalities of Wolfenbüttel and Blankenburg. 1. Volume, Friedrich Bernhard Culemann , Braunschweig 1802, p. 186.

“If you add the third in the group, the sweet and fluffy honey cake, you have the three things that are still spreading the reputation of the Guelph city beyond its borders to the north, west, south and east. Because who does not think involuntarily with the name Braunschweig - and if he is a country child staying in a foreign country, with sad reminiscence - of the triumvirate: Braunschweig sausage, Braunschweiger Mumme, Braunschweiger honey cake. "

- Newspaper for the Elegant World , Volume 2, No. 37 of September 11, 1844, p. 588.

"Braunschweig! Famous from ancient times through Heinrich the Lion , the hero duke Friedrich Wilhelm , sausage and honey cake. Recently, by asparagus and Wilhelm Raabe . "

- Quote from Wilhelm Raabe, quoted from: Ernst August Roloff : Thousand Year Braunschweig. The city of Henry the Lion in the course of history. Appelhans, Braunschweig 1940, p. 7.

In Braunschweig museums today there are numerous wooden models with which the honey cakes were formed or decorated. They show coats of arms, people, animals or ornaments.

See also

Other foods from Braunschweig are or were:

• Brunswick sausage
• Braunschweiger Mumme , a type of beer
• Brunswick canned vegetables
• Knackwurst
• Chicory coffee from the Ludwig Otto Bleibtreu chicory factory

literature

• Peter Anders: Specialties. In: Heinrich Leippe (Ed.): Merian : Braunschweig. 3rd year, issue 3, Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1950, pp. 46–48.
• Wilhelm Jesse : The Braunschweig bakery trade. Appelhans, Braunschweig 1940.
• Werner Spieß : History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post-Middle Ages Volume 1, orphanage printing, Braunschweig 1966, pp. 256-257.
• Mechthild Wiswe : Honey cake baker. In Luitgard Camerer , Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5 , p. 110 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jörn Stachura: The temptation has never been sweeter. Traditional bakers now also offer Braunschweig honey cakes. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of November 23, 2011.
2. ↑ Werner Spieß: History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post Middle Ages Volume 1, p. 256.
3. ^ ^{A b} Wilhelm Jesse: The Braunschweiger bakery trade. P. 10.
4. ↑ Norbert Jonscher: A tradition for 508 years. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of November 23, 2013.
5. ^ Werner Spieß: History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post Middle Ages Volume 1, p. 257.
6. ↑ Jürgen Hodemacher : Braunschweigs streets - their names and their stories. Volume 2: Okergraben and city ring. Elm-Verlag, Cremlingen 1996, ISBN 3-927060-12-7 , p. 75.