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The
Stollen Story Stollen,
the powdered-sugar loaves that feature prominently on most German Christmas
tables, began as a sweet thank-you to Bishop Heinrich von Naumburg in 1329. The
Bishop granted his parish bakers the right to form guilds and asked in return
that they "henceforth celebrate the birth of Christ by making two long
wheat leaves, to be called stollen."The bishop decreed that the loaves must
contain half a bushel of wheat, or about 30 pounds, according to today's
measurements, which yielded a hefty loaf; the modern version ranges from
one-half to two-and-one half pounds and comes in nearly thirty varieties,
including a dietetic version. In
past years, nearly 38,000 tons of stollen were consumed annually in the
former Federal Republic; with the five new states, the bakers' guild expects
the number to increase by about twenty-five percent. Figures are unavailable for
the former German Democratic Republic, home of the queen of stollen, the Dresden
stollen. Bakery-quality, as opposed to industrially produced, stollen has become
increasingly popular. In 1980, 27,000 tons were produced industrially, 9,500
baked in individual bakeries: for 1950, the bakers'guild expects sales of
industrially packed stollen to drop to 18,000, with bakers wares rising to
15,000. Despite
its short October-through-January season, the sale of stollen is
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