Bakehouse Roßbach

Brief description

‘Backes’ are part of the rural tradition in many villages between Westerwald and Vogelsberg

Detailed description

The origins of today's Hessian bakeries date back to the middle of the 16th century: Count Johann VI of Nassau-Dillenburg decreed in the "Wood and Forest Ordinance" of January 18, 1562: "In every village, several common baking ovens should be ordered." On the one hand, communal baking was intended to save wood, as resources were slowly becoming scarce in the region due to the immense use of wood, for example for iron smelting. On the other hand, the fire risk for the farms, mostly built from wood, clay and straw, with their houses and stables, was reduced by placing the now isolated bakeries separately. As a result of this ordinance, numerous village community bakeries were created. Due to the exchange of information beyond the state borders - trade, marriage and itinerant crafts - this advantageous model quickly caught on throughout Hesse.

In the middle of the 19th century, the community bakery culture experienced a renaissance, starting in the then Prussian provinces in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. In 1846/1847, crop failures caused great hardship throughout Europe, including in the Kingdom of Prussia, which included the small town of Weyerbusch in the Westerwald. When the government distributed flour, Mayor Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen - who is also considered the founding father of the cooperative system - initiated a "bread association". The allocated flour was processed in a specially built bakery. The bread baked here together could be distributed to the needy population at a reasonable price. The idea of ​​the "bakery and bakery association" was quickly taken up by neighboring towns throughout the Westerwald, in the Lahn-Dill mountain range and the Burgwald up to the Schwalm. Today, there are many bakeries whose foundation stone was laid in the same era.

The art of baking good bread in the bakery has always required a high level of experience and was a community-building activity. It began with the selection and chopping of suitable wood, the heating of the oven at night and the determination of the baking order. This was determined in advance by the bakery community, often by drawing lots. The bread dough itself was usually made individually in advance according to the in-house recipe and brought to the bakery. The decisive factor for success was not only the choice of flour, but also the temperature at which the loaves of bread were pushed into the oven with the pusher. The time the bread spent in the oven was used for communication between the “bakers” and was therefore of great importance for village cohesion. This traditional village bakery system was an integral part of local supplies from almost the middle of the 19th century to the 20th century. Due to technological developments, many households had their own electric ovens since the mid-1950s, so that communal baking in bakeries became less and less important. In the 1960s in particular, many bakeries were demolished. However, there are still numerous bakeries and bakery associations today, often with a long, unbroken tradition that extends into the present day, baking in the tried and tested way and nurturing the village community. Communal baking is currently experiencing a rebirth in Hesse.

Text: Lahn-Dill-Bergland Nature Park