You’ve probably seen French people carrying thin baguettes under their arms, wearing stylish berets, and pedaling around on bicycles loaded with crispy bread.
These cinematic scenes are nice, but when you get down to business (as my countrymen tend to do), it’s clear that the best bread in the world comes from Germany. Here, bread literally sustains our culture.
Germans eat more bread than most other countries. According to the German Bread Institute’s Bread Register (of course there is such a thing), there are currently more than 3,200 types of bread officially recognized in Japan. German bread culture was officially added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2015.
An important German term comes from these hearty breads. One word for labor is Broterwerb, which literally means “to earn bread.”
In Germany, bread is essential to most meals: breakfast, intermission (also known as Pausenbrot or “break bread”), dinner, or Abendbrot, literally “night bread.”
“Sales like sliced bread” is a German proverb that describes a product that sells quickly.
Pan is also a star on TV. A talking bread named Bernd has become a popular character among German children. Comedy series “Bernd Das Brau”. Hosted by a character with this title, it began airing on the children’s channel KI.KA in 2000.
Oh, and the German postal system also has a stamp released in 2018 with the slogan “German Bread Culture.”
So why are Germans so obsessed with bread, pretzels, and rolls?
One reason for this wide variety of bread products is the fragmented history of Germany up to the 19th century.
Until then, the country now known as Germany was a collection of hundreds of small principalities and kingdoms, each with its own culture, dialect, and its own bread.
In the Middle Ages, injected into this mixed city another cluster of successful and growing commercial cities seeking to attract trade and new immigrants, some of which produced excellent baked goods.
Since Germany did not receive as much sunlight as southern France or Italy, and many areas were not suitable for wheat production, grains such as rye and spelt tended to grow well, producing the bread that is still consumed today. Wheat-based breads remained in southern cities such as Munich and Stuttgart.
The main factor behind the bounty of bread was that farmers, merchants, and dukes alike needed something to nourish them during the cold, wet days. Therefore, to this day, Germans tend to eat sourdough bread made with rye, spelt, and wheat flour and filled with grains and seeds.
German bread is heavy and voluminous. It (literally) beats fluffy focaccia or ciabatta.
Its heavy traditions never spread to other parts of Europe. In 1792, during a military campaign in France, Johann-Wolfgang von Goethe recorded that when he offered two captured Frenchmen dark rye bread, they immediately fled back to their base.
Today, while food trucks in other countries serve up tacos and burgers for lunch, Germany sticks to the standard bakery, each stocking “berette brechen,” or authentic German fast food, wrapped with various fillings.
There are many types of baked goods that may be confusing the first time you see them, such as farmhouse bread, mixed bread, stone oven bread, sunflower bread, pumpkin bread, and five-seed bread.
But don’t be overwhelmed by these breads. Visit your local bakery or Beckerei and see for yourself. All are good. And if you have a sweet tooth, most bakeries have confectioners, or confectioners, attached to them, so you’ll find plenty of cakes and pastries.
Germans were baking nutritious whole grain bread long before the organic health food renaissance. Although some supermarket chains have started baking their own products in-store, most Germans trust their local corner bakeries, and most German supermarkets actually have small local bakeries attached to them.
Becoming a baker continues to be a highly regarded profession, and German bakers complete advanced and creative training that few other countries receive.
There are German standards for the quality and size of bread, and the German Bread Institute annually announces “Bread of the Year.”
In 2025, it’s Nusbrot, nut bread.
Bread is still a cornerstone of the German diet and culture, as it is eaten with most meals. Even though some large, established bakeries have struggled to hire bakers in recent years, fewer and fewer young people are interested in learning the demanding trade.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t artisan bakers in hip cities like Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich trying to create new types of bread for a global audience. Bakeries such as Zeit für Brot, Soluna Brot und Öl and Springer create new and delicious products based on natural and local ingredients, while remaining strongly rooted in German artisanal traditions.
Brötchen (bread roll): This is a standard white bread roll, but it is not known as Brötchen everywhere in Germany. Some regions have their own words, such as Semmeln, Wecken, Schlippen, and Rundstück (literally “round piece”). There are also different variations of brechen with the addition of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and pumpkin seeds, and they are sold as whole-wheat rolls.
Milchbrechen (milk roll): A variation of a roll made with fluffy white dough made from milk, often with added raisins or chocolate chips, and popular with the little Germans at the breakfast table.
Hernchen: Another breakfast staple (especially on Sundays), the hernchen, or “little corner,” is the German version of a croissant, albeit with more butter. A similar half-moon shape is also delicious served with jam or chocolate spread.
Vollkornbrot (whole wheat bread): Most of the breads on German bakery shelves are of the dark brown, healthy variety, and are dominated by whole wheat breads. Although it is commonly eaten with cheese or ham in the evening, it is actually protected by law, requiring Volkornbrod to have at least 90% whole grain content.
Pumpernickel: A rich dark bread made from 100% rye originating from the northern region of Germany, this is one of our most famous breads. Pumpernickel is baked at low temperatures for a long time and is often served as an hors d’oeuvre with cucumbers or fish. It’s so popular that even most supermarkets across Germany sell pumpernickel in small pre-sliced batches.
Roggenbroth (rye bread): This covers literally all rye breads except pumpernickel, and can vary greatly in density and color depending on regional recipes and tastes.
Kattenbrot: This is also a dark brown, grainy whole grain variety. Kattenbrot means “barn bread” and, like Volkornbrot, is a staple of the German diet and is best enjoyed with cheese or cold cuts.
Sonnenbloemenbrot (Sunflower Seed Bread): As the name suggests, this bread is sprinkled with plenty of sunflower seeds and is slightly sweet, perfect for a healthy breakfast. It’s also delicious with cream cheese or fruit jam!
Dry cornbroat/Fünfcornbroat (three-grain/five-grain bread): These whole-grain bread variations are definitely one of the healthiest bread options in Germany. Made with a variety of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and corn, it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is especially delicious with soup.
Brezel (pretzel): This hearty specialty, sometimes sprinkled with salt, originates from southern Germany, where it is known as bretzen (brezel elsewhere). This butter-slathered snack is the perfect accompaniment to a Bavarian beer in a Munich beer garden.
So there you have it. German food culture is about more than just sauerkraut and sausages.
It is sustained by daily bread to this day. And there are German bakeries all over the world, including in Goa, India. dublin, ireland. To New York and beyond.
So the next time you want to sample German efficiency, why not test drive a shiny new German Volkswagen?
Instead, eat hearty slices of sourdough bread with delicious German cheese and butter on top. It turns out that German bread is truly the best in the world.
