The History of Science and Technology, by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans, claims that in 610 A.D. "...an Italian monk invents pretzels as a reward to children who learn their prayers. He calls the strips of baked dough, folded to resemble arms crossing the chest, 'pretiola' ("little rewards")".
Documentation shows that pretzel shaped pastries were used in the bakery emblems of bakers guilds in Southern Germany since 1111. In the 12th century, Hortus deliciarum from the southwest German Alsace (today France) may contain the earliest depiction of a pretzel.
In the 16th century, the German tradition of eating pretzels during Good Friday dinner is introduced. It is said that the shape of the pretzel is like that of praying hands. Within the Catholic church, pretzels are regarded as having religious significance for both ingredients and shape. The classic pretzel's three-hole shape begins to take form. The three holes represent the Christian trinity of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," and pretzels are thought to bring luck, prosperity, and spiritual wholeness. The wedding phrase "tying the knot" got its start when a pretzel was used to tie the knot between two prominent families. The pretzel's loops stood for everlasting love.
In 1609, Johannes Kepler states that "one puts all of this information together in one bundle, and at the same time believes that the sun truly moves across the Zodiac over the space of a year, as Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe believed, then it is necessary to concede that the circuits of the three above planets through ethereal space are, as it were, a complex of several movements, that they are actually twisted; not like piled-up cord, with coils in a sequential order, but rather in the image of a lenten bread, as the following diagram shows..." (panis quadragesimalis or lenten bread is a pretzel).
Today, pretzels are common in southern Germany (Swabia, Baden, and Bavaria), and Switzerland, where they are often sliced horizontally, buttered, and sold as Butterbrezel. Large, soft, salted unglazed pretzels arrive every morning to the bakery shops, together with freshly baked bread, and are sold fresh in almost every bakery shop. They are popular pastries, consumed between meals, eaten alone or together with yogurt or milk. Tiny hard glazed pretzels and pretzel sticks are sold in packages as snacks. In many parts of Europe such as Austria, traditional pretzels often contain caraway seeds, mixed in with the dough.
Documentation shows that pretzel shaped pastries were used in the bakery emblems of bakers guilds in Southern Germany since 1111. In the 12th century, Hortus deliciarum from the southwest German Alsace (today France) may contain the earliest depiction of a pretzel.
In the 16th century, the German tradition of eating pretzels during Good Friday dinner is introduced. It is said that the shape of the pretzel is like that of praying hands. Within the Catholic church, pretzels are regarded as having religious significance for both ingredients and shape. The classic pretzel's three-hole shape begins to take form. The three holes represent the Christian trinity of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," and pretzels are thought to bring luck, prosperity, and spiritual wholeness. The wedding phrase "tying the knot" got its start when a pretzel was used to tie the knot between two prominent families. The pretzel's loops stood for everlasting love.
In 1609, Johannes Kepler states that "one puts all of this information together in one bundle, and at the same time believes that the sun truly moves across the Zodiac over the space of a year, as Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe believed, then it is necessary to concede that the circuits of the three above planets through ethereal space are, as it were, a complex of several movements, that they are actually twisted; not like piled-up cord, with coils in a sequential order, but rather in the image of a lenten bread, as the following diagram shows..." (panis quadragesimalis or lenten bread is a pretzel).
Today, pretzels are common in southern Germany (Swabia, Baden, and Bavaria), and Switzerland, where they are often sliced horizontally, buttered, and sold as Butterbrezel. Large, soft, salted unglazed pretzels arrive every morning to the bakery shops, together with freshly baked bread, and are sold fresh in almost every bakery shop. They are popular pastries, consumed between meals, eaten alone or together with yogurt or milk. Tiny hard glazed pretzels and pretzel sticks are sold in packages as snacks. In many parts of Europe such as Austria, traditional pretzels often contain caraway seeds, mixed in with the dough.
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