Hello, I am a Gingerbread Baker. 

I live in Nuernberg which has been the home of the gingerbread cookies for about 600 years. And still today immeasurable quantities of them are sent yearly throughout the world. 

It was no coincidence that the best gingerbread cookies and pepper- nuts were made in Nuernberg. The city was a very important trading center already in the 14th century receiving all kinds of oriental spices like Cinnamon, Cardamon, Cloves, Nutmeg and Pepper via Venice. Most of the honey came from the area around Nuernberg in those days; in fact, the entire Nuernberg Forest was called the “Emperors bee-garden”. Thus, the domestic honey mixed with the imported spices brought out the unique flavor of these wonderful cookies. When Emperor Frederic Ill held his annual assembly in Nuernberg in 1487, he gave special recognition to the Gingerbread Bakers by ordering one cookie each for “all Nuernberg children who are already able to walk”. (4,000 pieces needed, population was only 25,000). Ever since medieval times through prosperous periods and through wars, the trade of the Gingerbread Baker has survived. Only the methods of making the cookies has changed. But the recipes remain the same. And even, a Lebkuchen from Nuernberg smells and tastes not only delicious, but also passes a bit of history on to us.