Deutscher Brot - Because They Bake It Best

These are only a few of maybe hundreds of varieties of breads baked in Germany.  This got me wondering what's the oldest bakery in Germany but I only found Konditerei Buchwald in Berlin which goes back to 1852.  That's cool but I was hoping for something from hundreds of years ago.

It's not road-tested yet whether German bread is better than the specific Greek bread with a relatively hard crust and great texture within.  The Greek bread is the best I ever found anywhere ... but ... I have not been to Germany and they're more than ready to get into this competition.


Cat mentioned the Konditerei this morning and I had never previously heard the word.  The closest thing to a Konditerei in America would be a pastry shop or a donut shop.  For Cincinnatians, Graeter's is something of an example and Cincinnatians know there's quite a bit of Old World Germany in that town.

There is formal education which raises an individual to the Master level of a chef for a Konditerei and this is different for being a Master Baker.  Bakers do not make pastries or things of that nature and the Master in a Konditerei will not bake breads, etc.  That's not a matter of fussiness but rather in their training.

The German example of the pastry shop is much more sophisticated than donuts and danishes.  Highly-skilled craftsmen make the most exotic things they can create and this is for when a Snickers candy bar just won't do it for you.


The Master status in Germany is an important thing because it identifies formal training.  A mechanic may make himself available to the public but he needs to be able to post the shield to identify himself as a Master or he wouldn't be doing anything except working in his backyard.  It's cool if you like doing that and many do but you need to be a Master to be taken really seriously.

Master status is something associated with unions and guilds and the words has historically had great meaning.  As we have seen in recent years, unions are responsible for all the world's economic travails and likely caused the increases in pedophilia and heroin addiction.  As a result, being a Master of anything in America doesn't have much meaning although I believe it still has meaning for plumbers, unknown if much of anywhere else.

Sometimes I will refer to someone as a Master musician but that's based on observation rather than a certification of any particular type of training.


The point of all this is killing the unions satisfies a short-sighted goal for the GOP but there's a more pernicious consequence in gutting traditions which go back to the Old World.  Guilds have existed for the protection of craftsmen and artisans back maybe until the time of cave paintings but the GOP doesn't believe such protection is necessary anymore.

Do you know where to find anyone with Master skills??  Musicos who have been at it for a while probably know a luthier (i.e. for guitarists) and you know for yourselves there are some wizards with Master skills.  They usually don't like it in cities and want to be out where there is wood around them.  These are extremely special people and can do things with wood ordinary mortals cannot do.

Masters in whatever guild are extremely special but maybe it's the ludicrous obsession with equality which does not want to feature them now.  A PhD from University is a more elaborate version of the same thing and you can see on Facebook or any social network how scientists are routinely ignored for the sake of pushing anti-vaxx or whatever other hare-brained medical notion YouTube dreamed up lately.


In fact, teachers are well-respected in general in Germany and not only professors.  That's decidedly untrue for teachers in America and we can see the Scott Walker reign of mediocrity in Wisconsin to prove it.

It's an ironic thing to see a country which proclaims education so much and yet at once shows no respect or not much for the people who obtain such an education.

Call this America bashing if you like but the fact of it is true nevertheless.  The pitch is maybe it would be better to do something to support such endeavors rather than reviling them and trying to break them down.  Anyone who has achieved Master standing has earned and deserves respect.  The Guild doesn't give such certification lightly and you know this person has paid the necessary dues.

Maybe the pitch is this class of existence is outmoded but there is little evidence of the truth of it.  In fact, I've never seen a Konditerei anywhere in America.  Some places have combination bakery and pastry shops but that's not the same thing.  Again, the purpose isn't to emulate the Old World but rather not to kill everything simply because it originated there ... some of it was pretty damn good.