** Tins of Taste Museum ** within NationalBreadMuseum.org
GERMANY - Haeberlein-Metzger Lebkuchen Company
2019:
A TIMELINE OF THE HAEBERLEIN-METZGER LEBKUCHEN COMPANY
Their home page (https://www.haeberlein-metzger.de/) ~ ~ ~ a link to "About Us" (https://www.haeberlein-metzger.de/ueber-uns) gives the full story of the following. Here's the short of the time line:
Heinrich Haeberlein company ~ ~ ~
1810 ~ Johann Caspar Schores owns a gingerbread
bakery."
1840s ~ Johann's son, Martin, begins making chocolates.
1846 ~ Johann's son-in-law, Heinrich Haeberlein takes over; redesigns the company
1876 ~ moves into a new factory building & now uses machines
1886 ~ There's a fire, factory destroyed, builds a 3-story this time.
FG Metzger Gingerbread Shop ~ ~ ~
1598 Hans Baum started making gingerbread
in the suburb of Wöhrd.
At some point in the next 100+ years, gingerbread maker, Friedrich Gotthelf
Metzger from Dinkelsbühl took over.
1816 Metzger married the widow of
the gingerbread maker Michael Bühler in Nuremberg. This laid the foundation for
Metzger's company.
At some point in time the factory was relocated to Rathausgasse (see photo below, left),
& his son Johann Georg Karl took over. (Note: Had to still be in the 1800s.) He transitioned it to industrial
production (i.e. made by machines).
On June 5, 1920, the two companies H. Haeberlein and FG Metzger merged to form Haeberlein-Metzger AG. --->
In 2008, I got the postcard on the left (E6,50), & the tin on the right (E6,00), on Ebay, with prices including postage inside Germany, because a friend was living there for while. It's been a blessing to have family & friends.
1976 Theo Schöller was managing Haeberlein-Metzger because it became part of the "biscuit" division of Schöller-Eis Lebensmittel KG.
1999 The Lambertz Group took over Scholler, & continued to run Haeberlein-Metzger as an independent brand. (Note: A great decision!)
Every Lebkuchen company has its own recipe/s for its Lebkuchen products. The kinds & % of nuts is a factor, as is the kinds & amounts of dried fruits (if any), the spices, honey, & then varieties. And as far as tins go, in the past "however many years," there are times when the company will put out a tin with just the F. G. Metzger name on it (e.g. tins in the shape of a "book"), but I don't recall any of the tins having only the Haeberlein name. That's always in combination with Metzger. Today the H-G brand is only sold to the trade. Lambertz, the parent company, has a retail line, & includes "some" of the H-G tins, but not all! That makes it difficult because the H-M tins & chests are then only sold in Germany, possibly in shops, but at the H-M booths at the Christkindlmarkts throughout the country. So, many are missed! (These book tins were from 2020-grey & 2019-blue; 5.75x6.75x2.25")
Regarding the following . . . round, square, hexagonal (6 sides), octagonal (8 sides), or other tins classified as a 4-, 5-, 6-, or an 8-stuck tin means there are that many Lebkuchen cookies inside. In English, the German "stuck" rhymes with American English "spook." The most common is the round, 6-stuck tin.
1987:
1986:
1983:
Years Unknown: Therefore, 1980 or before.
