Bavarian Products: A Cultural And Commercial Legacy

Bavaria, the largest federal state in Germany, is known for its stunning landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and culinary prowess. Its products range from food and drinks to clothing and accessories.

Bavarian food includes meat and Knödel dishes, with wheat, barley, potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, and cabbage forming staple crops. Bavarian specialities include Brotzeit, a savoury snack, and Weisswurst, a super-fresh veal sausage served with sweet mustard for breakfast. Bavarians are also known for their beer, with brewing traditions dating back to the Bronze Age.

In addition to food, Bavaria produces traditional clothing and accessories, including Tracht outfits such as Lederhosen for men and Dirndl dresses for women. These are often worn during Oktoberfest, a festival enjoyed by thousands of tourists and locals.

Bavaria also offers fine scarves, cutting boards with traditional designs, and beer steins from the famous Hofbräuhaus in Munich.

Beer

According to the Reinheitsgebot (Bavarian Beer Purity Law) of 1516, introduced by Wilhelm IV, Duke of Bavaria, the only ingredients used to make beer were barley, hops, water, and yeast. An earthenware amphora discovered in a Celtic chieftain's burial mound in Kasendorf dates back to 800 BCE and is considered the oldest evidence of beer-making in Europe.

Bavaria is home to several breweries and beer gardens, including the famous Hofbräuhaus in Munich, founded by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm V, in 1589. The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl in downtown Munich sells large, traditional glass beer steins in its gift shop.

• Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Smoked Beer): Brewed with Original Schlenkerla Smokemalt and tapped according to old tradition directly from a gravity-fed oakwood cask in a historical 15th-century brewery tavern in Bamberg/Franconia.
• Andechser: The monastery of Andechs has a brewing tradition dating back to 1455 and produces one of the best bock beers and wheat beers.
• Apostelbraeu: A well-known Bavarian brewery that uses malt from spelt, an ancient grain. It is located in the Bavarian Palatine area, close to the Czech Republic border.
• Arcobräu: Arcobräu has been brewed in Moos, in the heart of lower Bavaria, for almost 500 years.
• Augustiner Bräu: Established in 1328, it is Munich's oldest independent brewery. Augustiner Edelstoff and Maximator are available in the US.
• EKU: EKU is a true eisbock with a secret recipe. While lagering for about nine months, its temperature is dropped until it begins to freeze. It is owned by Kulmacher Brau.
• Erdinger: A pleasantly spicy aroma, a distinctive yeast flavor, and an unmistakable top-fermenting beer profile, brewed according to a 125-year-old recipe.
• Franziskaner: The original fresh wheat beer taste. Cloudy in appearance, with a rich but delicately bitter taste, resulting from the large percentage of wheat malt. It is owned by Anheuser Bush Inbev.
• Friedenfelser: A fresh, tingly, naturally cloudy, and bottle-fermented beer brewed according to traditional Bavarian methods.
• Hacker-Pschorr: A regional brand in southern Bavaria, recognised in Munich and the Bavarian uplands as a partner to regional clubs and associations in sports and culture.
• Hofbräu: With original recipes handed down by Wilhelm V, the Duke of Bavaria, Hofbräu's fame has spread across the globe. The beer is imported directly from the brewery in Munich.
• Hofmühl Weissbier: Handcrafted with local raw materials and strictly according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, this Weissbier is a fine, fruity, and naturally cloudy specialty beer with digestible yeast flower.
• Julius Echter – Hefeweiss Dunkel: One of the foremost purveyors of German hefeweizens, with a fresh banana aroma.
• Kaiserdom: Brewed in Bamberg, in the Franconian area of Bavaria, Kaiserdom offers non-alcoholic beer, a refreshing and authentic-tasting alternative for designated drivers.
• Löwenbräu: One of Germany's most historically significant beer brands. Now owned by Anheuser Bush Inbev.
• Maisel: Maisel's Weisse is made using a unique brewing process with selected wheat and barley malt and their own yeast breed, resulting in a bright amber color and a pronounced fruity-spicy taste.
• Paulaner: A fine Munich art of brewing since 1634.
• Riedenburger: Riedenburger Brauhaus has expertise in brewing Bavarian-style wheat beers since the 1950s.
• Schneider Weisse: In 1872, royal brewer Georg Schneider purchased the brewing rights from the Bavarian King Ludwig II. Over 140 years later, the brewery still uses his recipe and open fermentation process.
• Spaten: A Munich-based brewery that specializes in Bavarian-style beers. Owned by Anheuser Bush Inbev.
• Tucher: Tucher specializes in producing dopplebock beers. Their signature beer has 7.5% alcohol, and their Bajuvator is an excellent example of a Doppelbock.
• Weihenstephan: As the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan offers various beers, including wheat beer, dark and light wheat beer, crystal wheat beer, vitus and korbinian, and original helles.
• Weltenburger Kloster: A Benedictine monastery that has existed for nearly 1,000 years in Bavaria. It boasts the second-oldest known brewery, founded in 1050 CE, and has been brewing continually since then, except for a brief period between 1803 and 1858.

Cheese

Bavaria is known for its cheeses, with Germany's cheese production making up about one-third of all European-produced cheeses.

Obatzda

Obatzda is a Bavarian cheese speciality, a creamy, addictive beer and cheese dip or spread, commonly served with pretzels. It is made from a mix of two-thirds aged soft cheese, usually Camembert, and one-third butter, with the addition of cream cheese, onions, chives, spices, and beer. The cheese is warmed or brought to room temperature, then mashed with butter and cream cheese to form a paste, to which the other ingredients are added. The beer, usually a mild Bavarian lager, is added last to get the dip to the desired consistency.

Adler

Adler has been making the Adler Edelcreme soft cheese in an iconic triangular package since 1992. The cheese comes in a variety of flavours, including mushroom, chives, salami, and herbs.

Allgaeuland

Allgaeuland is known for producing the Hirtenkäse cheese under the Castello Alp Selection brand, as well as creamy cheeses. The company is now a subsidiary of the Danish Arla Dairy conglomerate.

Alpenhain

Alpenhain started with “brick” cheese in 1905 in the town of Sachrang in Allgaeuland. Today, the company exports a large assortment of long-shelf-life cheeses, soft-ripened cheeses, and frozen baked cheeses.

Bayernland

Headquartered in Nuernberg, Bayernland is one of Bavaria's large dairies, producing cheese spreads, emmentaler, and other cheese specialties for export.

Bergader

Bergader makes the famous Bavaria Blue cheese (a mix of Gorgonzola and Camembert) and Basil's Original Smoked Cheese (Räucherkäse). The company was founded in 1902 by Basil Weixler, whose first cheese was a Bavarian Mountain Roquefort.

Champignon

Käserei Champignon, founded over 100 years ago, launched one of the first cheese consumer brands in Bavaria. Their most famous product is Cambozola, an aromatic mix of Camembert and Gorgonzola. They also make Camembert with mushrooms and other ingredients.

Meat

Bavarian cuisine is characterised by meat and Knödel dishes, with wheat flour also featuring heavily. The region's rural conditions and Alpine climate mean that crops such as wheat, barley, potatoes, beets, carrots, onions and cabbage are staples in the German diet.

Other meat dishes include Schweinsbraten, a traditional Bavarian roast pork dish common in upper Bavaria; Schweinshaxe, a giant pork knuckle; and Leberkässemmel, a small kind of Bologna sandwich with mustard.

Bavarian meat dishes are often served with Knödel, a giant potato dumpling, or potato salad. Knödel is sometimes served in a soup, such as Leberknödelsuppe (liver dumpling soup).

Bread

Bavaria is known for its delicious bread, including pretzels and rolls.

Pretzels

Pretzels, known as "brezels" in Bavaria, are a type of bread that has become an iconic symbol of the region. They have a slightly hard, brown crust and a soft, chewy centre. Some varieties are sprinkled with salt or sesame seeds, or slathered with butter. The shape of the pretzel varies across regions. Innovative variations include "laugengebäck" (small round pretzel rolls), "käse-brezel" (with a crispy cheese topping), "laugenstangen" (long breadsticks), "nussbrezel" (crispy and flaky, made with puff pastry), "wiesnbrezn" (a lighter, larger, and softer pretzel made during Oktoberfest in Munich), and "fastenbrezeln" (very light in colour and sprinkled with salt, made during Lent).

Brötchen

"Brötchen" are small, crusty rolls that are available in every bakery and supermarket across Bavaria and served for breakfast and brunch. They are often used to make "bratwurst" (the German version of a hot dog). They are called "schrippe" in Berlin, "weck" in and around Stuttgart, "semmel" in Bavaria and other parts of Southern Germany, and "bömmel" in Hiddensee.

Other Breads

Bavaria also offers a variety of other unique breads, including "Bauern Brot" (Bavarian Bread), which has a distinct texture, taste, and aroma. Another example is "Brotzeit", a small meal of Bavarian specialties served on a thin slab of wood in "cozy" places like pubs or beer gardens. It typically includes "weisswursts" and other sausages, cheeses, cured meats, radishes, beets, dense thick dark bread, and rich, creamy spreads.

Bavaria's rich bread culture, with its diverse offerings, is a significant part of the region's culinary tradition and a delight for food enthusiasts.

Chocolate

Bavaria is known for its chocolate, with a number of chocolatiers and confectioners creating sweet treats for locals and tourists alike.

Heilemann

One of the most famous Bavarian chocolatiers is Heilemann, founded in 1955 by Karl Heilemann in the deep south of Bavaria. Heilemann chocolates are renowned for their quality and presentation, with a range of flavours including white chocolate with vanilla, milk chocolate, dark chocolate infused with orange, and dark chocolate with spicy ginger. They also produce rich pralines and handcrafted hollow chocolate figures. Heilemann chocolates are made with fresh cream and butter sourced from Allgäu, another region in Bavaria.

Friedel

Friedel is a chocolatier that specialises in Easter and Christmas chocolate creations.

Riegelein

Riegelein is a chocolate company based in Cadolzburg, near Nuremberg, that is known for its seasonal chocolate figurines. They produce around 18,000 tons of chocolate a year.

Eichetti

Eichetti is a chocolate company known for its chocolate covered in icing and ice cream cones filled with chocolate.

Bavaria also has a number of chocolate shops, including the Bavarian Chocolate Haus in North Conway, New Hampshire, which makes its chocolate confections by hand.

Frequently asked questions