Back in die Bäckerei

Oh boy, my first blog post! This seems really intimidating, but I already have hundreds of experiences from my time here. Even though I am just starting my blog now (April 14th) I have actually been in Germany for over a month now. I arrived here at the start of March, well before my schooling started (which was only last week). What have you been doing? you might be wondering.

Rather than spending my break at home, since I will be in school all summer, I thought it best to integrate myself into the German culture prior to the beginning of my program. This is something I would highly recommend. Arriving early has allowed me to understanding and appreciate their umweltbewusst nature, participate in their extensive Öffentliches Verkehrssystem, reintroduce myself to the German language, have a taste test of the colloquial German cuisine, and overall accrue an appreciation for the place I will be living for the next 6 months.

I began my travels taking a two week intensive German language class in München, and since then have been traveling around the region, skiing in the alps, befriending strangers, celebrating cultural traditions, and going on other wild adventures.

Local bakery outside my hostel in Zermatt, Switzerland

Today, I wanted to share with you my experiences with the local German Cafés and Bäckereien. Back when I was in München, every morning I would take a short 10 minute walk from my hotel to my class at the Goethe Institute. During these morning strolls I would walk past a number of local shops who were opening their doors, stocking shelves, and preparing for the day’s bustle. One of these shops was called Backspielhaus. Quickly, I realized that attending my hotel’s breakfast was not always going to be an option if I continued to hit the snooze button on my alarm! With Backspielhaus being en route to my class it became a quick substitute. Either a simple Semmeln (little special bread roll), Croissant, or even a morning Brezel! Additionally, die Bäckerei had many, many options of Kaffee or Tee, although I am not much of a fan of either. Perhaps Germany will change me. However, I have not mentioned this anecdote purely to depict my morning routine, but rather to describe to you the cultural significance and appeal of die Bäckereien throughout all of Germany.

Besides simple amenities such as the Brezeln, Kuchen, Croissants, Semmeln, and Süßes in Bäckereien, they also contain extravagant amounts of Brot and Brötchen (bread rolls/biscuits). This is a type of store far different than you would find in the US. Most bread shopping in the US is done at supermarkets where there are aisles with loaves of square cut bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and little else stuffed into plastic bags. True, at some supermarkets there are little sections with muffins, cakes, cookies, and possible some options for sourdough, French or Italian bread loaves. Although, these are small counters and also inside of supermarkets rather than being their own freestanding stores. Die Bäckereien in Germany are far different. They serve as a cultural outlet for native Deutsche as a place to begin their morning ritual. Professor Kira Straub mentioned to me last semester the great influence Bäckereien had on daily life, although I honestly never expected it to be so popular and as widespread as I have now witnessed. On almost every block there are one or two Bäckereien, and not just in München, but this is something I have witnessed in every town and city I have visited, including Leipzig. When venturing out in the morning I have observed, and been a part of, streams of people filtering into die Bäckereien for their morning bread. The 7:00-10:00 o’clock window I have marked as their busiest period, and their shelves are stocked with more types of bread than I can count on my fingers. So far I have tried Sauerteigbrot, Bauernbrot, Dinkelvollkornbrötchen, Schnittbrötchen, und Leipziger Mischbrot. My favorite has been Sauerteigbrot although there are a few competitors. OH! And did I mention there are roughly 3,000 different types of Brot, Brötchen, and other related products in Germany? That little fun fact comes from Prof. Kira Straub.

Local Bäckerei located next to Universität Leipzig Main Campus Bibliothek

From my perspective back home, this differs greatly. Usually, when I’m sent off to the grocery store I have two choices: white or wheat bread, straight and simple. Clearly, not as complex as the German baking industry. Otherwise, if I am looking for some little baking treat similar to a Brötchen or a muffin I have to go to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, two massive fast food chains. Another nice little treat about die Bäckereien in Germany is that the bread is actually made fresh every day, assuring you arrive home with a toasty breakfast for the family. Meanwhile, from experience I know the majority of those little sweets from Dunkin and Starbucks are unpacked from shipments arriving every morning from who knows where and prepared some unknown time ago.

The unimportance and lack of emphasis on Bäckereien in the United States v.s. in Germany has displayed the German community as a much slower paced lifestyle in which they are able to find greater comfort and leisure in the simpler things in life. I genuinely admire this about their culture and am glad that for a brief moment I will be able to revel in a bit more of a tranquil environment, besides my three very demanding physics courses..haha….

So far my exploration of Bäckereien in Leipzig has included two local shops found in die Innenstadt called LUKAS and BackWerk. Unfortunately, I live almost a 25 minute walk from die Innenstadt or about a 13 minute tram ride, if I’m lucky enough to just walk on the tram, so these have mostly become little sandwich or treat shops for me throughout the day. I am determined to expand to some of the other local Bäckereien though. They are in such high demand that I have even seen one that sells purely out of a window in the wall on the sidewalk! On top of all the other grand differences between Germany and the US this may seem like such a minuscule contrast, although I can promise you it is an utterly shocking cultural twist! And I implore you to experience it yourself when visiting Deutschland.

April 14th, 2023