It is now 61 years since the Saarland Bakers' Guild, at that time on the initiative of Homburg master baker Schäfer, launched the presentation of New Year's pretzels to the administration of the Saarpfalz district and the city of Homburg. Today, this tradition, which is unique in Saarland, was realised for the 60th time when bakers from the Saarland Bakers' Guild presented the heads of administration of the city of Homburg and the Saarpfalz district with their New Year's pretzels and best wishes for the New Year. One appointment had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Firstly, it was the task of this year's host Mayor Michael Forster to welcome the representatives of the bakers' guild with their managing director Sabine Hensler and the state guild master Hans-Jörg Kleinbauer at the head in the large conference room of the town hall. Michael Forster did the same on behalf of Mayor Manfred Rippel, Councillor Philipp Scheidweiler and Head of the Main Office Kerstin Puchner. He particularly welcomed District Administrator Frank John, who was attending the event for the first time. The traditional meeting takes place every year, alternating between the town hall and the district administration.
Michael Forster began by emphasising that the regular gathering was something very special and also served to show great appreciation for the bakery trade. The Lord Mayor emphasised that, in view of the numerous bad news stories pointing to multiple job cuts in the industry, appreciation for small and medium-sized businesses and the skilled trades as the backbone of the economy and society is more important than ever. He also addressed a number of current issues such as the "Sunday baking ban" for bakers and the "mandatory receipt" and appealed to the public to support local bakers and the skilled trades.
District Administrator Frank John emphasised that his first stop every morning is his local bakery and that he also enjoys using the bakeries in the district. He also said that he was always in favour of standing up for and supporting craftsmanship, as the value of craftsmanship is often only recognised when it is no longer there and this leads to long distances and long waiting times. As a small gift for the bakers present, the District Administrator had brought along the latest edition of the Saarpfalz Yearbook.
State guild master Hans-Jörg Kleinbauers expressed his thanks for the reception and the good wishes, but also raised some critical points, knowing full well that his criticism was directed more at politics at federal and EU level and less at local representatives. Although he praised the reduction in VAT, he spoke of "a drop in the ocean". He pointed to the high prices of energy and raw materials, criticised the high bureaucratic burden caused by the receipt and various verification requirements and called for Sunday opening to be "brought out of illegality". Kleinbauer particularly criticised the fact that it is difficult for most businesses to finance an appropriate gap to the minimum wage for skilled workers, because as soon as bakers increase their prices, they lose customers, he said.
As always, Sabine Hensler was responsible for the figures for the past year. She pointed out that there are still 132 bakery businesses in Saarland and that a total of 19 new trainees as sales assistants and 24 new trainees in the bakery trade were added in 2025. In total, there are 160 trainees in the companies, the managing director informed.
The figures, tips and good wishes for the new year were followed by an intensive discussion between the master bakers and the mayor and district administrator, during which the heads of administration made it clear that they were happy to support the bakery trade. However, they were themselves affected by some of the regulations from Berlin and the EU and could do little at this level despite their contacts at state and federal level.
In addition to managing director Sabine Hensler and state guild master Hans-Jörg Kleinbauer, this year's participants included the deputy state guild master Stefan Lang (Schiffweiler), the brothers Albrecht and Reinhold Ackermann as well as Steffen Weigel (Bliesmengen-Bolchen), Andreas Lenert (Blieskastel), Gerhard Ecker (Homburg-Erbach), Peter Tinnes (Merzig), Gerd Leibrock (Limbach), Hans-Peter Emser (Einöd) and Johannes Lindemann (Homburg). Text/Source: Jürgen Kruthoff/Municipal Administration