60 years ago, the Saarland Bakers' Guild launched the presentation of the New Year's pretzel to the administration of the Saarpfalz district and the city of Homburg. This is certainly a remarkable period of time over which this custom has been maintained, which was also mentioned several times at the most recent event in this still very young year. District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo and Mayor Michael Forster welcomed State Guild Master Hans-Jörg Kleinbauer and Guild Managing Director Sabine Hensler to the premises of the district administration. Homburg's "new" mayor Manfred Rippel was also in attendance. The warm welcome was of course also extended to the master bakers, who completed the picture of the traditional event and came to the Saarpfalz district from all over Saarland. This year they were: Hans-Peter Emser (Einöd), Peter Tinnes (Merzig), Gerd Leibrock (Limbach), Stefan Lang (Schiffweiler, deputy state guild master), the brothers Albrecht and Reinhold Ackermann (Bliesmengen-Bolchen), Gerhard Ecker (Homburg-Erbach), Johannes Lindemann (Homburg) and Volker Eberle (Erbach). Their prized souvenir alongside savoury pretzel bites from Peter Tinnes and taking centre stage: the New Year's pretzel baked from sweet yeast dough as a real lucky charm - from Gerhard Ecker's bakery.
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo wished everyone a Happy New Year: "This is a wonderful occasion that I have been looking forward to, as it marks a hopeful start to the months ahead. We are living in difficult times and the bakery trade, the trade in general, has been struggling with economic instability for years. I also see the disappearance of the human touch, for example when more and more bakeries are closing and these are disappearing as meeting places in our villages. However, I still see an opportunity, if not a necessity, to remedy this situation by opening up new opportunities on our labour market for foreign workers who want to integrate here. Bakeries could also benefit from this." Referring to the 60-year tradition of handing over pretzels, which master baker Johannes Lindemann has been part of from the very beginning, the District Administrator emphasised the fact that the Saarland Chamber of Crafts honoured him with the Diamond Master Craftsman's Certificate last year. This is an extraordinary honour and testifies to an exemplary professional life.
Mayor Michael Forster was also pleased about the solidarity with the bakers' guild and the important exchange with the traditional craft. He also spoke about the symbolism of the pretzel. "The shape stands for unity, in a way also for infinity, but also for the winding paths that we sometimes have to take to reach our destination. Because not everything can be achieved on simple and straightforward paths," said the Lord Mayor with a view to the challenges that the new year will bring. "Even though the bakery trade doesn't have it easy, I'm pleased that there are still artisan bakers in almost every neighbourhood in Homburg. I am grateful to them for offering their high-quality goods to the population." Michael Forster therefore also appealed for people to support these bakers by making conscious purchasing decisions.
Hans-Jörg Kleinbauer's appeal, however, was directed at politicians. It is not just individual cost factors such as rising energy or raw material prices. It is all the regulations and overall costs that are no longer affordable for customers and that are causing bakers to despair. "It's never been this bad and we don't know where our heads are anymore. I have to try very hard to see anything positive in the development and current state of the bakery trade," said the state guild master, sounding almost resigned, but with an urgent request to political representatives at federal and state level to devote more attention to the concerns of small and medium-sized businesses and therefore also to artisan bakeries.
Sabine Hensler finally had some meaningful figures to hand and reported something positive right at the beginning. The Chamber of Skilled Crafts had provided the following data on apprenticeship contracts as at 19 December 2024: There are 190 registered apprenticeship contracts, 72 more than in January 2024, and 67 new apprenticeship contracts were added last year. Of these, 84 trainees are listed as bakers (previous year: 55) and 106 trainees as salespeople (previous year: 63). Around 70 per cent of these trainees are being trained in guild companies. The most recently calculated number of registered businesses in the bakery trade (as of December 2024) was 168 (previous year: 175). Excluding cupcake bakers and similar businesses, there are 137 craft bakeries with the well-known variety of baked goods. In total, the bakery trade in Saarland employs around 3,600 people. Sabine Hensler regretted that with 94 active members as of 31 December 2024, the Saarland bakers' guild had six fewer businesses to report. "The reasons for this are five business closures due to retirement without succession and one insolvency," said the Managing Director, "but as the Saarland Bakers' Guild, we still represent 68 per cent of Saarland's craft bakeries."
The critical tones, which are also part of such an event with intensive dialogue, did not detract from the cosy atmosphere at this gathering. After an entertaining ceremony, District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo and Lord Mayor Michael Forster thanked the bakers present for the good wishes associated with the New Year's pretzel and emphasised that they were already looking forward to the next bread market in Homburg city centre, which is due to take place on the first Saturday in July.