Nuremberg Gingerbread: A Symbol of the Season
Tradition of the Nuremberg Lebkuchen
The forests that have surrounded the city since its beginnings are one reason for this tradition. The bees living there were the source of a precious sweetener: honey. Thanks to the worldwide trade of the merchants of Nuremberg, local gingerbread bakers had a steady supply of almonds, pepper, ginger, cinnamon and other spices.
Legend of the Elisenlebkuchen
According to legend, they were named after Elisabeth, the daughter of a Nuremberg gingerbread baker. The girl grew very ill, and as her father loved her so much and no doctor could help, he started baking a new kind of Lebkuchen. It contained only the finest ingredients and no flour. So the girl grew healthy.
Since then, Nuremberg is Lebkuchen: 70 million are produced each year and enjoyed around the globe. Meanwhile they are even trademarked by their geographic location under European law. Whether chocolate- or sugar-coated or decorated with almonds, the recipe for gingerbread is a tightly guarded secret. But you can take a peek at the bakery: at the Christkindlesmarkt in a thatched-roof honey and gingerbread house.