German breadDeutsches BrotUNESCO-Kulturerbe seit 2014
More than 3,000 registered varieties make German bread culture an item of intangible cultural heritage.
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The German Bread Institute keeps a register of more than 3,000 varieties, and in 2014 German bread culture was added to the national inventory of intangible cultural heritage. For learners the number matters less than its consequence: in a bakery you will be asked which bread you want, and the answer “normal bread” helps nobody. The basic distinction runs through the flour. Rye makes bread dark, robust and longer-keeping (Roggenmischbrot, Schwarzbrot, Pumpernickel), wheat makes it pale and soft (Weißbrot, Toastbrot). Vollkorn means the whole grain was milled. Then come the small shapes: Brötchen in the north, Semmel in Bavaria, Schrippe in Berlin, Weck in the south-west - one and the same roll under four names, which quietly turns the bakery into a first lesson in dialect.
What to know
- More than 3,000 registered varieties in the bread register - Über 3.000 registrierte Brotsorten im Brotregister
- Intangible cultural heritage since 2014 - Immaterielles Kulturerbe seit 2014
- Rye makes it dark, wheat pale - the basic distinction - Roggen macht dunkel, Weizen hell - die Grundunterscheidung
- Brötchen, Semmel, Schrippe, Weck: one roll, four names - Brötchen, Semmel, Schrippe, Weck: ein Gebäck, vier Namen
Two rolls and half a rye mixed loaf, please.
Zwei Brötchen und ein halbes Roggenmischbrot, bitte.