Reading, Pretzel Capital of the World
- Ember Sappington
- Feb 27, 2022
- 1 min read
The origin of pretzel making in the United States is debated, but one thing is for sure – it has its roots in Lancaster and Berks counties. According to the July 30, 1879 Lancaster “Volksfreund,” “the first pretzel in the United States is said to have been baked in the city of Lancaster by one Scherle in the year 1827. He was followed by Ambrose Ranch in Lititz and later by a baker in Reading.”
Anne C. Friedman identifies Benjamin Lichtenthaler as the “baker in Reading.” Born in 1817 in Lititz, PA, Lichtenthaler opened a bakery in Reading in 1860 and began making pretzels shortly thereafter. He owned a pretzel factory at 37 Allen Street and then 207 Cherry Alley. By the time of his death, the factory was producing 1.5 million pretzels a year. Concurrently, Julius Sturgis apprenticed himself to Ambrose Ranch.
In 1861, using a Moravian recipe to make hard pretzels, the baker, Sturgis founded the Stugis Pretzel House in Lititz—the oldest commercial pretzel bakery of its kind in the United States. Referred to locally as “bretzels” until the early 1900s, the pretzel industry in Reading continued to grow. In 1935, the Reading Pretzel Machinery Company was created to provide machinery to Reading’s many pretzel makers who had been working by hand for decades. By 1948, Reading, PA was producing one-third of the country’s pretzels. Today Reading still boasts companies that have local and national reach, including E.J. Faller Pretzel Company, Tom Sturgis Pretzels, the Reading Hard and Soft Pretzel Bakery, and the Philly Pretzel Factory.
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[Supplied by our lovely director, Aurelia]
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