On Saturday, 7th of October, the opening of the Bread-Baking-Week took place in the Museum of Bread Culture in Ulm!
It was a nice event with interesting information about the Week and bread was formed and baked together.
Special thanks to the Lord Mayor of Ulm, Gunter Czisch, the director of the Museum of Bread Culture, Dr. Isabel Greschat, the project coordinator Carmen Stadelhofer and to all of our guests!
We are happy that the Bread Baking Week starts now and we are looking forward to getting many interesting pictures!
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Here you can find the speech of Dr. Isabel Greschat, director of the Museum of Bread Culture:
Dear mayor Czisch, dear Mrs. Stadelhofer, ladies and gentlemen:
A heartily welcome to all of you here at the Museum of Bread Culture and to the opening of the Bread Baking Week along the Danube.
Bread connects people. Firstly, through the times – 6,000 years ago people have already eaten bread, through all epochs, whatever happened around them – until today. And bread connects over country barriers because all over Europe, in North America, in Africa and nowadays also Asia, people eat bread. Wherever people gather around a fire place, or in a kitchen today, to cook, bake and eat together, community takes place. Food connects anyway. Bread does this in a special way because bread has an intense meaning and emotional quality: bread is daily, bread is simple, everyone can produce it, and bread epitomizes food because up to the 20th century bread was the aliment par excellence. Bread, agriculture and trade relations have given distinction to our culture. No wonder: Without further ado, we can tell the history of humans as a story about strategies for the procurement of bread and the avoidance of hunger. Bread also connects through religious rituals, e.g. the Christian Communion, with transcendent power.
Ok. – We don’t want to go this far today.
Why am I telling you this? For me, it’s about giving a variety of topics where everyday life and culture come together and to show that bread really is a good topic when it comes to connecting and addressing different people and groups. Bread is down-home and at the same time gives many perspectives for culture and society.
This idea has inspired Mrs. Carmen Stadelhofer, who you all know as a tireless dedicated and impressively active Danube-Networker, to the big project “Tastes of Danube” and to a special week: The Bread Baking Week along the Danube. This is about bringing the Danube countries closer together on a personal, human level.
I am very pleased that the opening takes place at the Museum of Bread Culture today. This suits thematically and the Museum participates in this week’s programme accordingly. You can bake “Seelen” with master baker Martin Grath tomorrow from 11:00 or on Tuesday, 12th October you can come to our brioche braid factory. On Sunday at 15:00 and Tuesday at 14:30 we offer extra tours. On Sunday, 15th October, ahead of the World Food Day, you can have breakfast at the museum with short expeditions to selected pieces of art. You can find the whole programme on the homepage of Bread connects.
Before I give the floor to our mayor, a short note:
After the welcoming and introducing words, there will be physical food and food for thought in the form of fresh baking goods and drinks. And you have the opportunity to join a mini tour, either to Breughel, Picasso and Dali or into old Egypt or to the special exhibition Habitat Earth. Enjoy your afternoon here!
I wish us all an inspiring week with communal action, good bread and even better conversations.