The Story of the Pretzel

The pretzel symbol is a rune from the ancient Germanic times - long before there was an alphabet established - and was the sign for life, as it begins thinly, intertwines, gets thicker and flares out (just like life) into a circle and comes back to a thin end.

The spelling with a "P" is English. In Germany it is spelled with a "B", and so also the word starts softly, becomes strong with the "tz" in the middle and rolls out into the "l".

Bread has often been considered the "staff of life", and this symbol became the sign for the bakers' guilds. Just as the horseshoe was the sign of the blacksmith, the pretzel was the sign of the bakery. For this reason the German Bakery web site and front door display the symbol of the pretzel.