The German Bakery: Provision (and Staple) for Enjoying This European Life
The bakery stand switches on its lights before dawn. Now it glows like a Christmas tree and feels almost as festive, enticing customers from the neighborhood with its warm brilliance.
The young, hardworking attendant busies herself with setting up her stand, expeditiously placing rolls, croissants, pastries, cookies and sandwiches into their respective posts in the front of the cart behind the glass. Loaves and baguettes take up space atop shelves on the back wall.
Now, all goods are visible to drooling customers.
But the display — a vast array of undeniably tempting delicacies sure to make mouths water from blocks away — may not be as alluring as another verifiable truth: a German bakery provides a quick solace from the banality of everyday life.
Yes, because there are so many aesthetically-pleasing, finely-crafted choices, a German bakery will have something you desire — and need — to start your day off right. Though a keto dieter may disagree, any and every thing a body lacks — for sustenance in the very least — can be found at the local bakery.
At the bakery, every day is different! Mulling over the choices and buying treats make it so. Your old standby will also be waiting for you. Your mouth and stomach will be pleased with your selection, whether you’re trying something new or grabbing your favorite.
If a person can live on bread alone… a German bakery becomes a very necessary part of daily life.
Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner can be bought here. Many Germans rely on the bakery to provide them with at least half of their day’s meals.
The bakery stand also sells farm-fresh brown eggs, bottles of Coke, fresh-brewed coffee and other non-baked goods at a reasonable price. You won’t be thirsty or protein-deficient, should you choose to add these to your purchase.
And that’s not all.
When you arrive very early in the morning, you’ll get there before all the other folks who are rushing off to work and have less time for congeniality. At this time of day (5:30 a.m.), for example, you may stand in line behind an earnest, elderly, and bent-over gentleman who doesn’t need any rolls today — just his regular loaf. When he turns your way, you’ll get a respectable “Guten Morgen” and maybe even a smile. (Interacting with someone who has lived twice as long as you can start the day off just right.)
Hanging around for a few minutes, getting stuck in a longer queue with others who are also hankering for something sweet, substantial, quick and ready, you might exchange pleasantries and small talk. This includes news of the world, talk of the weather, and perhaps a little local gossip.
When you reach the front of the line, you’ll reap the benefit of seeing the smile and hearing the chipper voice of the consistently-cordial bakery attendant. She is happy to receive tips, too, when giving such fast and friendly service and customers round up or hand over a few extra small coins.
The bakery may be the only place a person alone may visit in a whole day; it could be the only contact with the outside world some initiate or require on a given day.
Its variety, product, usefulness and human connection are a mainstay in German life. Centuries-old traditions like these will never go out of fashion.
