Fasting pretzel

Two thicker fasting pretzels with the typical straw from baking

The fasting pretzel is a pastry specialty that is still widespread today, especially in Biberach an der Riß and the Blauer Ländchen , and is mainly offered during Lent . It is made from a lightly sweetened yeast dough flavored with cinnamon . The special thing about the fasting pretzel is that it is baked on straw , which, depending on the baker, is not removed for sale.

Fasting pretzels also have a long tradition in Herborn in the Lahn-Dill district . The oldest documented mention, a guild letter from the Herborn bakers, goes back to the year 1511. Together with the local specialty "Schlumpeweck" they appear on an old wooden coat of arms on the facade of a half-timbered house in the historic old town. A local bakery still produces up to 1,500 of the fasting pretzels per day. The Herborn pretzels get their typical taste when they are coated with salt water.

The fasting pretzel used to be known nationwide in Germany, was offered from mid-January to Maundy Thursday and was considered a pastry for pre-fasting and fasting periods. Its origin should have been the Christian representation of a cross with a surrounding ring, where the ring stands for the halo.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Angele: Peasant language and farm equipment in the Swabian Oberland . 2006, ISBN 978-3-9807403-4-0 , pp. 166 ( online ).
2. ↑ Stadtmarketing Herborn: Stadt (seduction) guides. Accessed February 1, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Gabriel Bakery in Herbornseelbach. Accessed February 1, 2020 . 
4. ^ Anton Hungari (ed.): Osterglöcklein. Uplifting conversations for the Easter festival group in the Catholic church years. JD Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1862, p. 49 f. ( The fasting pretzel ).