Toruń gingerbread

Toruń gingerbread(Polish:pierniki toruńskie,German:Thorner Lebkuchen) is a traditionalPolishgingerbreadthat has been produced since theMiddle Agesin the city ofToruń.
Old Polish sayings connect Toruń with making of some form of gingerbread, and the expansion of the craft, which started in the 13th century.
A considerable factor behind the development of gingerbread-making in Toruń was its excellent location. Situated on high-qualitysoil, the area provided fine wheat for flour, while nearby villages providedhoney.The necessaryspiceswere brought from remote countries, mainlyIndia, via a route through theBlack SeaandLwówto theHoly Roman Empire, where the spices were transported by north-German trade companies. Some also came by sea to the port ofGdańsk.
The very first mention of Toruń gingerbread comes from 1380 and speaks of a local baker called Niclos Czana.The product quickly gained fame across Poland and abroad. Toruń and the city ofNuremberg, itself famous for special gingerbread, were eager to protect the secrets of their recipes from each other.Finally in 1556, they formed an agreement by which each city could bake the specialties of the other.
The artisans were not the only ones engaged in the production of the delicacy. In the 16th century, theCistercian Orderon the outskirts of Toruń prospered mainly due to this activity and even sold their product to other countries. During the 17th century, the well-known workshop of the Grauer family appeared. The city authorities were supportive of the lucrative trade and issued several tax breaks on spice imports and export by bakers' guilds so that the trade could be increased.
In the 18th and 19th century, the city saw a fall in baking and other craftsmanship. In 1825, only three bakers were left. With the advent ofcapitalism, large companies took over from the local craftsmen and mass production of the gingerbread ensued.
The largest factory was owned by Gustav Weese, based on tradition dating from 1763, when Johann Weesestarted to bake gingerbread. Gustav Traugott Weese inherited a small workshop after his father Andreas in 1824 and changed it into a large company. In 1875 the Toruń Gazette (Gazeta Toruńska) wrote onNew Year's Evethat due to the demand it was even sold inAfrica. Other exotic places of export includedTurkey,Japan,ChinaandHonolulu. In 1913, Gustav Weese, a descendant of Gustav Traugott Weese, constructed a factory which, afterWorld War Iended, was employing over 500 workers. Gustav Weese sold it in January 1939 to the Polish company "Społem" and left for his other gingerbread factory in Germany. The company in Toruń still exists and is the oldest confectionery company in Poland today and one of the oldest in the world.
Besides Weese's factory there was also the Hermann Thomas company founded in 1857, which in 1907 employed 200 workers. Another important company engaged in the production of gingerbread was founded by Jan Ruchniewicz in 1907.The enterprise prospered quite successfully and had 50 workers. It was especially known for the ornamental gingerbread topped with Toruń's crest.
Pierniki Toruńskie, as they are known in Polish, are an icon ofPoland's national cuisine. They have traditionally been presented as a gift by the city of Toruń to Polish leaders, artists and others who have distinguished themselves in Polish society, and to Polish kings.Baking molds survive with likenesses of kingSigismund III of Poland, kingWładysław IV Vasaand QueenCecilia Renataas well as the royal seal with thePolish eagleandcrestsof several provinces.Other notables who have received gift gingerbread from the city includeMarie Casimire Louise(French princess and widow of KingJohn III Sobieski),Napoléon Bonaparte(during whose visit the whole city was illuminated and bells were rung all over the city),Zygmunt Krasiński(one of Poland'sThree Bards), painterJan Matejko, actressHelena Modjeska, MarshalJózef Piłsudski, pianistArtur Rubinstein, poetCzesław Miłosz,Lech Wałęsaand PopeJohn Paul II.
Since at least the Middle Ages,piernikihave been connected with Toruń in Polish proverbs and legends. One legend claims that gingerbread was a gift from the Queen of the Bees to the apprenticeBogumił. A 17th-century epigram by poet Fryderyk Hoffman speaks of the four best things in Poland: "ThevodkaofGdańsk, Toruń gingerbread, the ladies ofKraków, and theWarsawshoes".
The 18th-century poet andfabulistIgnacy Krasicki, who greatly favored the gingerbread, wrote of them in his celebrated poems.
When the precocious 15-year-old composerFrédéric ChopinvisitedSzafarnia, a small village near the riverDrwęca, he stopped over in Toruń, where he was a guest of his godfather, thepenologistFryderyk Florian Skarbek. Chopin sampled the city's famous confection and grew so fond of it that he wrote a letter about it to his friends and colleagues. He even sent some to Warsaw. In honor of this, Poland's largest producer of Toruń gingerbread, theKopernik Confectionery Company, has created a special heart-shaped gingerbread calledScherzo, bearing Chopin's likeness on the wrapper.
Toruń holds an annual celebration of gingerbread calledŚwięto Piernika(the Gingerbread Festival).
There are two main producers of Toruń gingerbread: the confectionery factory "Kopernik" S.A., and the Toruń Bakery. The first upholds its legal rights to the brand name and is the successor to a company that was founded in 1763 by Johann Weese.The second company was formed by Toruń bakers who specialized in producing gingerbread; its aim is to spread knowledge of the craft and to produce fine gingerbread for restaurants, parties and elite meetings.