Gingerbread and wax museum in Pfaffenhofen
The Pfaffenhofen gingerbread and wax museum is located in the premises of Café Hipp at Hauptplatz 6 in the district town of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm . The craft of gingerbread and wax making , which has become rare, has been practiced in this listed property for 400 years .
history
The widowed owner of the traditional Lebzelterei in Pfaffenhofen, Maria Seidl, geb. Urban, sold the property to Joseph Hipp in 1897, who had worked in the business for four years. In the same year he married Maria Ostermayer and continued to produce for his shop and the annual Dult stands. He supplied 80 parishes with church wax and 60 dealers with sweets and candles, or wax sticks for household use. A large amount of honey mead was also sold in bottles and barrels.
Creation of Hipp's rusks for children
When the twins Viktoria and Josef were born in 1899, the mother had problems with breastfeeding. That's why her husband Joseph started making a porridge from rusk flour in the bakery as a nutritious baby food. Since their children were thriving, the Hipps recommended this to their customers and soon advertised it in the newspapers. In 1926 more than 6,000 packs of “Hipp's Kinder zwiebackmehl” were sold and in 1931 there were 86,763 packs, which is considerable for a family business. That is why the widowed Maria Hipp handed over the business for the production of child meal to her son Georg Hipp notarially. The company “Nutrient Hipp” was created, which he expanded into a leading manufacturer of baby food. The pioneer was the first in Germany to produce food for babies on an industrial scale, initially in cans and a short time later in jars. In 1967 his son Claus Hipp took over the management. Today the Hipp Holding is a considerable stock corporation, but it still has its main plant in Pfaffenhofen, where the beginning was made in the former Weilhammer-Hopfenhalle on Münchner Straße.
Further development of the core business
The main business, the gingerbread shop and wax drawing shop, went to the children Dora and Hans Hipp in 1932. When Hans Hipp married Margarete Regnet from Munich in 1946, they both took over the business and redesigned it, and a new bakery was built.
In 1976 Bernadette and Hans Hipp junior took over. the business and further developed it into a modern catering company, the Café Hipp with its integrated museum. In 1989 the Hipp-Passage was created with its connection to Löwenstraße. The son Dominik has been working in the business since 2013 and took over on May 1, 2016.
exhibition
The old wax drawing shop has now become a museum. In it you can clearly understand the traditional handicraft and get to know the traditional products. The senior boss gives insights into the history of the craft through lectures in front of groups.
Guided tours in the museum
In the gingerbread and candle time from October to December and before Easter, Hans Hipp gives a one-hour lecture in the middle of the old wax drawing room, today's museum, which can seat over 60 people. The visitor gets an insight into the production of the drawn candles, into the religious and profane customs of the wax stick and the gingerbread and the medical-historical and religious significance of the wax votive offerings that are still cast from the centuries-old models.
literature
- Hans Hipp: The gingerbread book . Insel-Bücherei No. 2015, Insel Verlag, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-458-20015-4
- Hans Hipp: Lebzelter - wax puller - mead brewer . In: Dachauer Museumsschriften Volume 8, Bayerland Dachau Publishing House, 1987
