Stollen ( or ) is a
fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with
powdered sugar
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, p ...
or
icing sugar and often containing
marzipan. It is a traditional
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
Christmas bread. During the
Christmas season
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
the cake-like loaves are called Weihnachtsstollen (after "
Weihnachten
Weihnachten is the observance of what is commonly known in English as Christmas Eve in the German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is also widespread in countries with a German-speaking minority, such as Transylvania ...
", the German word for Christmas) or Christstollen (after
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
).
Ingredients
Stollen is a cake-like fruit bread made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with
zest
Zest may refer to:
Common usage
* Zest (ingredient), the outer peel of a citrus fruit
** Zester, a tool for preparing zest
** Twist (cocktail garnish), a piece of zest
* Zest (positive psychology), a component of character
Brands
* Zest (brand ...
added to the dough.
Orangeat (candied orange peel) and
candied citrus peel (Zitronat),
raisin
A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...
s and
almonds, and various spices such as
cardamom
Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...
and
cinnamon are added. Other ingredients, such as milk, sugar, butter, salt, rum, eggs, vanilla, other
dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...
s and nuts and
marzipan, may also be added to the dough.
Except for the fruit added, the dough is quite low in sugar. The finished bread is sprinkled with icing sugar. The traditional weight of Stollen is around , but smaller sizes are common. The bread is slathered with melted unsalted butter and rolled in sugar as soon as it comes out of the oven, resulting in a moister product that keeps better. The marzipan rope in the middle is optional. The dried fruits are macerated in rum or brandy for a superior-tasting bread.
Dresden Stollen (originally
Striezel
Allerheiligenstriezel or simply Strietzel (regional names include ''Allerseelenzopf'', ''Seelenspitze'', ''Seelenbrot'', or ''Allerseelenbreze'') is a braided yeast pastry. Its name means "All Saints' braid" in English and it consists of flour, ...
), a moist, heavy bread filled with fruit, was first mentioned in an official document in 1474,
and ''Dresdner Stollen'' remains notable and available – amongst other places – at the
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
Christmas market, the
Striezelmarkt
The Striezelmarkt in Dresden is one of the first genuine Christmas markets in the world. Founded as a one-day market in 1434, it celebrated its 585th anniversary in 2019. Its 240 stands attract about 3 million visitors from all over the world. ...
.
Dresden Stollen is produced in the city of Dresden and distinguished by a special seal depicting King
Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
. This "official" Stollen is produced by only 110 Dresden bakers.
History
![Stollen with candied fruits](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Stollen_with_candied_fruits.jpg)
Early Stollen was different, with the ingredients being flour, oats and water. As a Christmas bread stollen was baked for the first time at the
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
in 1545,
and was made with flour, yeast, oil and water.
The
Advent season was a time of fasting, and bakers were not allowed to use butter, only oil, and the cake was tasteless and hard.
In the 15th century, in medieval Saxony (in central Germany, north of Bavaria and south of Brandenburg), the
Prince Elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
Ernst
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
(1441–1486) and his brother
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
Albrecht (1443–1500) decided to remedy this by writing to the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. The
Saxon bakers needed to use butter, as oil in Saxony was expensive, hard to come by, and had to be made from turnips.
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...
(1397–1455), in 1450 denied the first appeal. Five popes died before finally, in 1490,
Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492)
sent a letter, known as the "Butter-Letter", to the Prince. This granted the use of butter (without having to pay a fine), but only for the Prince-Elector and his family and household.
Others were also permitted to use butter, but on the condition of having to pay annually 1/20 of a gold
Gulden to support the building of the
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
Minster. The ban on butter was removed when
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
became
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
.
Over the centuries, the bread changed from being a simple, fairly tasteless "bread" to a sweeter bread with richer ingredients, such as
marzipan, although traditional Stollen is not as sweet, light and airy as the copies made around the world.
In the
GDR, Dresdner Stollen were sent to West Germany as a way of thanking the citizens of West Germany for sending care packets (
Westpaket), as they were both available to the GDR citizens and of a high enough standard to be appropriate to a West German.
Commercially made Stollen has become a popular Christmas food in Britain in recent decades, complementing traditional dishes such as
mince pies
A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in the United States, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet. The pies are traditionally served during the ...
and
Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of ...
. All the major supermarkets sell their own versions, and it is often baked by home bakers.
Dresden Stollen festival
Every year Stollenfest takes place in Dresden. This historical tradition ended only in 1918 with the fall of the monarchy,
and started again in 1994, but the idea comes from Dresden's history.
Dresden's Christmas market, the
Striezelmarkt
The Striezelmarkt in Dresden is one of the first genuine Christmas markets in the world. Founded as a one-day market in 1434, it celebrated its 585th anniversary in 2019. Its 240 stands attract about 3 million visitors from all over the world. ...
, was mentioned in the chronicles for the first time in 1474.
The tradition of baking Christmas Stollen in Dresden is very old. Christmas Stollen in Dresden was already baked in the 15th century.
In 1560, the bakers of Dresden offered the rulers of Saxony Christmas Stollen weighing each as gift, and the custom continued.
Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
(1670–1733) was the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and the
Grand Duke of Lithuania
The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...
.
The King loved pomp, luxury, splendour and feasts. In 1730, he impressed his subjects, ordering the Bakers’ Guild of Dresden to make a giant 1.7-tonne Stollen, big enough for everyone to have a portion to eat. There were around 24,000 guests who were taking part in the festivities on the occasion of the legendary amusement festivity known as Zeithainer Lustlager.
For this special occasion, the court architect
Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann
Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann (1662–1736) was a German master builder and architect who helped to rebuild Dresden after the fire of 1685. His most famous work is the Zwinger Palace.
Life
Pöppelmann was born in Herford in Westphalia on ...
(1662–1737), built a particularly oversized Stollen oven.
An oversized Stollen knife also had been designed solely for this occasion.
[Stollen knife](_blank)
Today, the festival takes place on the Saturday before the second Sunday in Advent, and the cake weighs between three and four tonnes. A carriage takes the cake in a parade through the streets of
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
to the Christmas market, where it is ceremoniously cut into pieces and distributed among the crowd, for a small sum which goes to charity. A special knife, the Grand Dresden Stollen Knife, a silver-plated knife, long weighing , which is a copy of the lost baroque original knife from 1730, is used to festively cut the oversize Stollen at the Dresden Christmas fair.
![Großes Dresdner Stollenmesser Nachbildung 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Gro%C3%9Fes_Dresdner_Stollenmesser_Nachbildung_2011.JPG)
The largest Stollen was baked in 2010 by
Lidl
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...
; it was long and was certified by the
Guinness Book of World Records, at the railway station of
Haarlem.
Gallery
Rosinen-Christstollen angeschnitten.jpg, Christmas Stollen with raisins
StollenSide.jpg, A ''Stollen'', close up detail
2016 1221 Kerststol.jpg, A Dutch ''Kerststol'' with an almond paste
Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to ''marzipan'', but has a coarser texture. Almond pas ...
filling
Mohnstollen.JPG, Stollen made with poppy seed paste
Stollen-w.jpg, Sliced stollen on a plate
Loaves of stollen.jpg, Loaves of stollen
Stollen de Magmot.jpg, Stollen
Mini Marzipan Stollen (Detail).jpg, Mini Marzipan Stollen
Cut stollen on wooden board.jpg, Cut stollen on wooden board
Stollen with candied fruits and nuts.jpg, Plaited stollen ( Strietzel) with candied fruits and nuts
Stollen-how-to.jpg, How to make Stollen
See also
*
Bremer Klaben
*
Christkindlmarkt
*
Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of ...
*
Christmas worldwide
The observance of Christmas around the world varies by country. The day of Christmas, and in some cases the day before and the day after, are recognized by many national governments and cultures worldwide, including in areas where Christianit ...
*
Cuisine of Germany
The cuisine of Germany () is made up of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbo ...
*
Fruitcake
*
Julekake
*
Kerststol
*
Pan de pascua
*
Panettone
Panettone (, ; lmo, label= Milanese, panetton ) is an Italian type of sweet bread, and fruitcake, originally from Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe as well as in South ...
*
Striezelmarkt
The Striezelmarkt in Dresden is one of the first genuine Christmas markets in the world. Founded as a one-day market in 1434, it celebrated its 585th anniversary in 2019. Its 240 stands attract about 3 million visitors from all over the world. ...
*
Vánočka
''Vánočka'' is a plaited bread, baked in Czech Republic and Slovakia (in Slovak called ''vianočka'') traditionally at Christmas time. Such special festive Christmas bread made from white flour, either in the form of a wedge or of plaited shape ...
References
External links
Dresden Stollen Festival in English from the Germany Embassy in Canada
{{Authority control
Sweet breads
Dresden
Christmas food
Christmas in Germany
German desserts
Saxon cuisine
German breads
Christian cuisine
Yeast cakes