Gebildbrot is a

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

or pastry in forms of figurative representations, such as a human, hare, bird or other braidings of dough. Traditionally this pastry is made for and consumed on certain feasts of the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...

History

In early forms of funeral feasts, spiced breads were eaten at funerals to ward off evil spirits. The term Gebildbrot (from the German word for "shaped bread") was used first by the German historian and folklorist Ernst Ludwig Rochholz (1809-1892). The German Folklore Dictionary, published in 1974, is already critical of such opinions of the “popular mythologists of the 19th century”, although it gives a detailed account of them. Rather, one should reckon with the "personal drive to sculpt the manufacturer and with baker's whims" or the requirements of the baking process (perforation, splitting). Most common pastries are made from yeast dough, which has been traceable since the 15th century. Around 1700 there were yeast cultivations, which were primarily aimed at the needs of beer brewers and schnapps distillers and were not very suitable for bakers. It was not until the 19th century that new brewery technologies made sufficient baker's yeast available. From this alone, the pre-Christian cultic theories lead ad absurdum.

Well-known Gebildbrote

pretzel A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

s (which were originally as a pastry made for

lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

en seasons) * yeast braids * Aachener Printen *

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...

in form of hearts, stars, sun, moon, also * gingerbread men for various feasts, for example St. John's bread, "Klausenmann" for Saint Nicholas Day * Speculaas is one of the most popular forms of Gebildbrot. These flat biscuits of seasoned shortcrust pastry are traditionally made around Saint Nicholas' day in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and around Christmas in Germany and Austria. * Saint Agatha's bread for Saint Agatha's day on 5 February. While Saint Agatha's breadsAlois Wierlacher and Regina Bendix, ''Kulinaristik - Forschung, Lehre, Praxis'', LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, p. 221 (or buns) are usually made in Germany, in Italy, especially in Sicily, special sweets in the form of breasts are common, called ''Minni de virgine'' or ''Minne di Sant’Agata'' ("Saint Agatha's breasts"). St. Agatha's bread is usually blessed by a priest or a deacon in the bakery, prior to be sold. * various Easter breads * Easter lamb with flag * various pastry in the form of birds for the Feast of the Ascension * in Sweden

saffron bun __NOTOC__ A saffron bun, Cornish tea treat bun or revel bun, is a rich, spiced yeast-leavened sweet bun that is flavoured with saffron and contains dried fruit including currants and raisins similar to a teacake. The main ingredients are pl ...

s in various forms, known as ''Lussekatter'', are made for Saint Lucy's Day * So-called ''Hedwigssohlen'' (shoe soles of St. Hedwig) are made in some regions on the occasion of Saint Hedwig of Silesia's feast. The pastry originates from the Saint's habit to walk barefoot and wear the shoes in her hand, since her confessor ordered her to "wear shoes".

References

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