Brazel, Brezel, pretzel or Brezn

For Maona, my friend who adores pretzels 🧡

There is an old legend about the origin of the Brezel… the Swabian Pretzel Saga.

Frieder, a baker who lived in Bad Urach in Swabia, was to be executed.

His employer, Count Eberhard im Barte, knew that if he had Frieder hanged, he would also have to manage without his delicious pastries. So he had Frieder brought to the lower castle and said: “Because I appreciate your baking skills, I will give you another chance. If within three days you invent a cake or bread through which the sun shines three times, and which tastes better to me than anything I know, then you shall be free!”

Frieder immediately set to work. But two days passed without the baker coming up with anything great.

On the third and last day, he kneaded a lightly salted yeast dough, the count was not much for sweets, and by making a shape resembling his wife’s folded arms formed three openings, which the sun really could shine through.

Thanks to the cat these fell into a bucket of hot lye, which the baker’s wife had previously mixed and left here. She wanted to season fish and soup with it.

The baker and his wife panicked, tried to get all the pieces back into the right shape, quickly sprinkled a few grains of coarse salt on top to decorate, put them in the oven and nervously waited for them to finish baking.

When Frieder took out his pastries he was amazed.

The ones with the lye were deliciously brown and brightly cracked in the middle. The little arms were crispy, the middle soft like a bun.

He hurried as fast as he could to the Count with the oven-warm pastries, and who was pleased indeed.

He consulted with his wife, Princess Barbara, as to what they should be called.

It is true, they did seem to have arms, and the princess remembered the Latin for little arms, bracchia, and also thought of the word brazula, which means two intertwined hands.

Call the pastry Brazel,” said the Count, adding: “And tomorrow I’m expecting a whole basket full of Brazel for vespers in the castle.

And that is how Brezel came about… 😊

The Italians say a monk of theirs invented them, the Swiss say it was a tradition used for wedding couples, there are more German stories…who knows? Does it really matter? Just enjoy them!

There’s also variants: with butter. With butter & chives (my favorite). Pizza pretzel. And in Bavaria we call them Brezn.