Dresden bakers do it again!

I'm always pleased to read of the annual Dresden Stollen Festival. After the nightmarish destruction of that city in 1945, it's good to see it restored to urban health, so to speak.




Being also very partial to good German Stollen, I enjoy seeing it in humongous quantities! Every year the bakers of Dresden assemble the world's largest Stollen - 4.2 metric tons, to be precise (over 4½ US short tons).

The Dresden Giant Stollen is not only of phenomenal size and weight, but also a highly elaborate piece of art. For many weeks, between 1993 and 1994, Prof. Kurt Merker was calculating, drafting, and modeling in an old factory shed in the Berholt-Brecht-Avenue in order to realize the idea of the Stollen-Festival-inventor Peter Mutscheller and to present a Giant Stollen at the 1st Dresden Stollen Festival. The oversize Christmas cake is an exact proportional enlargement of the typical Dresden four-pound stollen. The famous wagon that traditionally carries the Giant Stollen through the streets of Dresden`s city has been designed by Prof. Kurt Merker, too. Carpenters from Dresden-Weißig have done their best to realize Merker’s plan.




The model for the Giant Stollen of the recent Dresden Stollen Festivals is the one which was baked by the royal master baker Zacharias in 1730. More than 60 "basin knights" baked the cake for six hours in an oven which had been solely built for this purpose. It was handed over to August the Strong during the Zeithain amusement camp (Zeithainer Lustlager). At that time the Stollen was 1.8 tons in weight, 18 cubits in length, 8 cubits in width and 30 cm thick.

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But how is the Dresden Giant Stollen made? It consists of many single plates (Stollen plates) which are joined by means of butter and sugar. Every year, in November, more than 60 ovens are burning for three weeks in order to bake the stollen plates. About 370 handmade plates, each 11 kilos in weight, have to be produced according to secret recipes of the respective bakers until they are joined together directly on the huge stollen wagon on the weekend before the festivity. In the same way as in a jigsaw puzzle, bakers and pastry-chefs join the single plates to form an overall piece of art and a dainty weighing three tons. The hard work takes about six hours. Helpful tools are stencils and building constructions by Prof. Kurt Merker. Finally, the Stollen gets its well-known layer of icing sugar. After the completition of the Super-Stollen, the Stollen wagon is festively decorated.




Towards the end of the festival, about 30 bakers and pastry chefs - most of them are trainees and journeymen - cut the Giant Stollen into portions each weighing 500 grams [1.1 pounds]. The portions are sold to the visitors in exchange for the so called Stollenthaler (one Stollenthaler costs three Euro [about US $4]; one portion for one Stollenthaler). The whole procedure takes about three hours.

There's more at the link. In true festival tradition, there's also a 'Stollen maiden' every year, and the giant Stollen is cut with -what else? - the world's largest Stollen knife!

The Dresden Stollen Knife has a long history. Its origin dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. In 1730, August the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland arranged a legendary amusement festivity known as Zeithainer Lustlager. Even today, it is still the epitome of the baroque way of life because of its luxury and splendour. As a highlight of that festivity, the master baker Zacharias presented not only a huge Stollen weighing 1.8 tons, but also an oversized Stollen Knife which had been designed and produced solely for that occasion.




For more than two centuries the original knife had been kept in the Dresden`s Royal Silver Vault (Hofsilberkammer). Since the confusion of World War II in 1945 it has been missing. Dr. Peter Mutscheller, rediscoverer of the Stollen Knife, had searched for the traces of the precious knife in museums, libraries, and archives for more than two years. The only clue was a historic copperplate by the artist Elias Back. Entitled „Praise and Glory for the Laudable Bakery Trade“, the engraving shows a scene of the amusement camp in Zeithain (Zeithainer Lustlager). One detail of the copperplate shows an angel who carries a cloth with the depiction of the Grand Stollen Knife and facts of measurement.

In cooperation with craftsmen from Saxony and Solingen, Mutscheller replicated the Grand Stollen Knife according to historic descriptions. On the occasion of the 1st Dresden Stollen Festival in December 1994, it has been presented to the public for the first time.

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... the Dresden Stollen Knife has become a unique souvenir and a very special Christmas present. It belongs to the authentic Dresden Stollen as does the Stollen Festival.

Again, there's more at the link.

Definitely a festival to put on my future travel calendar . . . even if it is bad for my diet!



Peter