** TINS of TASTE MUSEUM ** within the NationalBreadMuseum.org
GERMANY -- Lebkuchen Schmidt
formerly known by it's founder's name:
E. Otto Schmidt Lebkuchen
[pronounced: labe' (rhymes with babe, Gabe), koo (rhymes with who), ken (like the name)]
* * * Disclosure: This is not a company website, but was made with my photos*^* & research information from my 40+year collection of the Schmidt Company tins. And I am extremely thankful for all the support they've given me.* * * (collection years of 1985-2026 so far)
*^*(Also, some photos are from a European-based, "Festive Chest" [FC] companion collector, as so many of my FCs are yet in storage.)
Donna Kozak, Founder
The used-to-be, commonly-known, "Otto Schmidt" Lebkuchen Company began in 1926 according to their history info on this following website: https://www.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/en/about-us/company-and-history/ In 2017, they put out a 90th anniversary Festive Chest. They have had a history of packaging Lebkuchen in beautiful tins at least since 1956, which is the first year for their largest tin named the Festive Chest (begun as a "735/xx" numbered series). Possibly, prior to then, there could have been an untold number of other tins &/or chests, but it's hard to determine. Also, I know there are 3 chests of the same size with # 730/1, 730/2, and 730/3 on them and were most likely prior to 1956. (And I recently obtained a #740/4. Was this another series?) Maybe they were made to see if people would purchase a larger quantity and variety of Lebkuchen at one time?!? So it's possible that all of those were issued in the prior years?!? Here are visuals, so far . . .
Let's take a Step Back in Time -
a Puzzle not yet Solved -
In trying to piece together the historical record of the longest-running Lebkuchen tin series by name, the "Festive Chest" began in 1956. Yet, there's a bit of mystery!
Who can help solve the following regarding Lebkuchen-Schmidt's tin history? Where do & how do these fit into the Otto Schmidt Festive Chest history?
There's a #730/1 chest in storage, so sadly, there's no photo at this time.
The #735/xx series called the Festive Chest began in 1956. In the exact same size & shape, 3 in the #730/x & one 2" shorter in the #740/x number have beed discovered.
The 730 # ties the above two to Otto Schmidt with the name on the bottom of the 730/2 chest.
Chest # 730/1 is somewhere in storage - no pic.
Above - #730/2 Identical shape & size of today's Festive Chest; OS name pressed into the bottom.
Left - A HUGE surprise to receive this in August 2025 (🙏Praise to a friend connection who sent it from Germany before moving. I ordered it, # unknown, off of eBay.de. Now I need another angel🤗 helper living in Germany to hold my eBay buys & then mail to me in bulk!) This has an icon!! Significance??? No info on the bottom of the tin.
Below - the SAME icon 👍 of "HK" letters - whose?? And now a different series, #740/4!
The icon ties these last two tins together. So will we ever figure out what was going on?
To see tins🤣, skip the talk, & scroll down👍❣
This will only interest the researcher, or problem solver, like me😉!
NOTE: Before reading all the following, which is verbiage in trying to figure out a mystery, I've come across some additional info which might help to shed light on this tin query!
In 2021 & 2022, an almost exact same cover design as the 740/4 showed up on a straight-sided, rectangular tin, 5" high, used by 2 companies. There was only a variation in the buildings in the upper left. The bottom had no name.
Now, w/this info, (at this time, 6-2026), I believe the #s with the helicopter icon are designated by the tin manufacturer, & the change (i.e. #740 or #870, etc.) is related to the company the tin was produced for. So now it's a matter of discovering the tin manufacturer & asking them! The icon has been used since at least the early 1950s.
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Questions . . . trying to figure out the puzzle . . .
Were the above tins the prototype in a "test market" back in the early 1950's - or earlier right after WWII?
1) Unknown . . . Did the 2"-shorter #740 series come before or after the #730 series?
2) If #740 was before, then why wasn't the HK icon on the #730/2 tin?
3) If it was after, then why was it 2" shorter? And do #740/1, 740/2, & 740/3 exist?
(July 3, 2026, I just saw a #740/06 tin for sale on a French website. It had the Albrecht Durer house on the cover.)
4) My conclusion at this time: I believe #730/1, /2, & /3 began this largest "chest" size. Then because the #740/4 was 2" shorter in height (testing the growing market of the time), a new number was attached to it (740), but /4 meant it was still in the manufacturing company's production line for the E. Otto Schmidt Lebkuchen Company with the same size & design shape (11 5/8" wide x 16 3/8" long) as the #730/ tin. The "HK" logo was added onto #730/3 & continued on #740/4. Now, by just seeing a #740/6 chest online, it's a question as to whether there are more. I imagine that when the shorter #740/ size was switched back to the initial #730 size, that is when the #735/01 series began, & with & without the HK icon till that 735/x numbering system was discontinued at the end of the 1990s.
So, if the "4) My conclusion" info above would be correct, then
5) I don't know if there was a #740/2 (or more) tins prior to the #735/1 series which began in 1956. But at this time, we can now at least figure this largest-of-Lebkuchen-tin-sizes most likely began in the early 1950s👍😉😀!
6) I still do not have any info regarding the "HK" logo which I believe was the tin manufacturing company's logo. Also, even in the first years of the #735/xx series, the use of an Otto Schmidt logo somewhere on each tin (usually shield-shaped designs) was inconsistent. Only the placement of a number on the center-back of the cover's flat rim, whether 730/, 740/, or 735/, was (or seemed to be) consistent.
Any help someone can give with additional information would be greatly appreciated for this historical archive.
(Please send me an email at breadmuseum@aol.com. Thanks. Donna)
As far as I know, among all German Lebkuchen companies giving a "name" to identify a tin of Lebkuchen, the #735/xx "Festive Chest" series from 1956 to today is the longest-running tin series that has existed👍❗
And one more huge moment in time! In the beginning . . . ?
Peter Durand patented the "tin can" in 1810. Lithographing (colored pictures/designs) began on tin in the 1830s. Huntley & Palmers in England began packaging cookies in a tin box in 1866. The first Lebkuchen sold in a tin was in the 1890s (from what I've been able to research). Otto Schmidt began in 1927. Without any historical records for evidence, I wonder if this was one of OS's 1st tins, & pre-WWII? It's styled after a basic "food can" with the ridged bottom (first Lebkuchen tin I've seen & have with that), has a paper wrapping, & lift-off cover (again, a first). And it's so small - 3"rd. x 4" tall, but had 6 Lebkuchen.
Dating for the Historical Record
In 1990, I went to the Otto Schmidt Company in Nürnberg to ask about getting a copy of the picture records of their tins through the years (I'd pay for the copy machine copies), as I had several hundred Lebkuchen tins from a bunch of companies by that time & wanted to put some info & dates to them before we moved back to the U.S. (Remember, no computers & easy world-wide communicating in those days!) The lady I met told me they kept no records, nor photos, but only a typed list in German of the main color & subject/design of the covers of the #735/xx Festive Chest series, which she gave me. It stated the first was in 1955, which turned out to be an error that eventually I was glad to discover & correct a couple of years ago when putting the historical record together for this website. The 1st year was 1956.
In 1990, the company produced their first catalog dated for the "1990/91" holiday season, and the new Lebkuchen-Schmidt name was used with their "Zollhausstrasse 30" address in Nürnberg. Until the 1980s, very seldom was there an identifying date on most tins/Dosen and chests/Truhen. This changed when the ingredient list was required in the 1980s. Then all the ingredient info was printed, & a sell-by date stamped, on the bottom of each "tin/Dose": -- a year-date following the year in which the tin was sold for the Christmas season. For the larger "chests/Truhen," a sell-by date was stamped on the boxes (which the buyer usually threw out), & a separate ingredient paper with the required product info was inside (also thrown out), so still, to this day, there's generally no date attached to hundreds of these larger tins! And also, we U. S. American people need to remember that European dates are day-month-year (5-10-2025 = October 5, 2025); whereas, in the U. S. we read 5-10-2025 as May 10th.
So again, prior to the required ingredient requirement in the early 1980s, & gradually with a "sell by" date attached to the product in one way or another regarding the time of purchase, it's extremely difficult to accurately date almost every tin & chest before then (for every company), and even since -- especially the ones considered "chests," not only for Otto Schmidt, but for almost all of the Lebkuchen companies because very seldom is there a date on the chest/tin, itself. Also, without the box, or a company/catalog record, an old dated advertising poster, or some other identifying information, etc., the date will never be known.
A ray of light in all of this is a rare identification exception which began on the Otto Schmidt Festive Chest in 1984. The actual year-date was pressed into the tin on the bottom of the "Festive Chest"/Festtags-Truhe from 1984 up through 2020. Today that name is translated into English on the website as the "Holiday Chest," but is still "Festive" in the English-version catalog. Then all of a sudden in 2021, there was no date (!), nor in 2022!! But in 2023, the year was again on the bottom of this chest, & I hope it continues. So, since the "Schmidt" Festive Chest is the longest-running series of any style/name of a tin chest that I'm aware of, there are now only 2 years that the Festive Chest has absolutely no identifying number or date on it, 2021 & 2022, & they can only be identified by a record of the picture description on the cover.
A NOTE OF CAUTION if you're either buying, but especially if you're selling, a tin on the internet. Ignorance could lead to a lot of trouble for sellers when they flippantly attach the adjectives to the tin they're selling, saying it's:
- - - "vintage" (means at least 20, but generally 40+ years old),
- - - "old" (When are you "old?" - already at 5-10-20 years??? - It should be more than vintage!),
- - - "rare" (Webster says scarce or unusual, but I see dozens of "similarly-designed," OR even some which are exactly the same as what someone else is selling, on the same website, described as "rare!"), or
- - - "an antique" (must actually be 100 years old or more).
Today (Nov. 2024) 3 Lebkuchen-Schmidt chests were on eBay, being advertised as "vintage & rare." They were a 2022, 2023, and unbelievably, already this 2024 season's chests!!! I couldn't believe it, so I politely wrote to the sellers to use caution, but the response was anything but polite! It's just to say that unless there is verifiable, factual evidence to back up a claim, sellers beware - - - just state a description. And to buyers - - if it's important that you need to know the date for some reason, then it's up to you to also have a way to verify. And hopefully, all my years of learned info from collecting, & the untold number of hours of research for this website, & time put into it to build it, will help inquiring minds.
How to Measure to Document a Tin
For documentary purposes, the photographs follow what everyone should use as the standard photographing system of a tin:
A - the cover; + sometimes a cover detail; The cover determines the shape & some of the size of the tin.
B - Beginning with the seam on the left, designs on the tin are in the sequence of turning the tin clockwise. For website viewing, not all designs on every tin are always shown, but the photos will begin with the seam to the left and photos going around to the right, turning the tin clockwise. (With 99% of the tins, there is only one seam for the side panels, but there have been a few exceptions with large rectangular or square tins having 2-4 seams. If so, I try to note such.)
C - Also, if there are repeats of designs on the front & back, or the two side/or end panels, there won't be duplicate photos, but then I do try to give that info. If a tin has no identification on the bottom, it won't be shown, and there are times a photo of the bottom (with insignificant stamped info) will also be omitted to conserve space on this page, but yet have the art designs large enough for viewing.
Description Info given: Identifying the name and/or style of the tin if there is one known & the year.
If there is a (TTM#xxxx), it is the museum's internal catalog #. Pay no attention. Those #s are not sequential w/dates. If there is a 2nd # in (---), it's the company # - from a Lebkuchen-Schmidt catalog or on the tin itself.
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This website page displays Otto Schmidt & Lebkuchen-Schmidt chests, tins, & some related info according to the following INDEX:
Festive Chests, followed by their companion 6-stuck (rhymes with spook) round tins,
& Nuremberg-named CHESTS (truhen) -- New ones are filled with gorgeously decorated bags, boxes, & containers of many various flavors of Lebkuchen, & some other traditional types of holiday cookies, etc.
All Other CHESTS (filled when bought new, with decorative bags, boxes, or wrappers of various varieties of Lebkuchen and related cookies)
All Various TINS (dose/n) which originally held 4-to-8 Lebkuchen cookies per tin. Lebkuchen are unglazed, white-glaze coated, or milk- or dark-chocolate coated.
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1 - Festive Chest - Q: How old are you?!? A: 71 years in 2026 (above - Lebkuchen bakers - 1972 - #17)
(NOTE: # 4-5-6 info, below, was updated/corrected on Nov. 13, 2023, for continued accuracy as facts of dates are discovered.)
(1) Since 1956, there has been a new design almost each year.
(2) The cover is hinged with a flat top, has curved or sloping
edges, a flat rim, & squared-off corners.
(3) Sometimes the design has a 3-D surface on the cover &/or
frame. (Both are on the bakers above.)
(4) 1956 (735/01) through 1996 (735/41) there was a "735/x" number on
the outside center back of the flat edge of the cover. It was the last year the "735/xx" appeared on the cover. From then on (till 2021), the year was on the bottom which tremendously helps with dating.
(5) Beginning in 1984, the year began to be pressed into the bottom of the
tin, so each had double identification through 1996.
(6) 1984 - 2020 the year was pressed into the bottom of the chest, but sadly 2021 & 2022 had no date! The "use/sell by date" is stamped on the outside of the box, as it is on
all other "chests." Thankfully, in 2023, 2024, & 2025 the date was again pressed into the bottom.
(7) Each Festive Chest had and still has a companion 6-stuck tin
inside. (Pronounce stuck to rhyme w/spook.) That means there were 6 Lebkuchen/cookies inside it.
(8) Since sometime in the 1980s, the ingredients & a "sell/use
by" date have been stamped on the bottom of tins/dosen (but not on chests/truhen). Therefore, the previous year is the date of the tin when it was filled with its contents. (Some companies have continued to use the same designed tin since I first saw it in the 1980s, but rarely does Lebkuchen-Schmidt repeat a tin.)
2 - Enclosures - Maybe from the beginning in 1956, until around 1995 - 2000, a parchment with the history of the tin art design was included - - glued to the inside of the cover. At some point in time, at least in the 1980s & onward, a colored art print (which could be framed) was included each year through 2010. (I won't know specific dates until the glorious day when all of the tins can be unpacked! There were no photos of this item in the catalogs which began in 1990.) In 2011, a tin plate "Wall Calendar" was included for 3 years. In 2014, these tin plates were changed from a calendar to a wall hanging which were still part of the Festive Chest series in 2025.
Also, for at least some years during the 1980s, a small, wooden, springerle (spring' er lah) cookie mold was included in each Festive Chest. Springerle is a traditional German cookie, flavored with anise (licorice). One of the molds (below), in its original packaging, shows an enclosed insert telling of some carved wooden mold history:
seasoned wood of fruit trees, mostly apple or pear. The cookie designs are colored either before or after baking.
In this small insert it also says that there will be a new mold design each year,
P.S. Look at how the eye deceives you (concave & convex) - at least it does for me, but it's the same mold!
You press it on the dough for an imprint.
* * *
story in the cover
* * *
1988 art to frame
* * *
<-----
3 - The following is a photo portfolio of most of the Festive Chest covers between 1956 and 2024. During the 1988-91 years of going to 1-5 flohmarkts a week, I was able to collect all but 6 of the #735/xx Festive Chest series & only one of the 2 before, #730/1. In 2024, I was able to get 2 of the missing 6 (#735/4 & /5 out of France), & get a photo of one other - #735/7**. But during the times I've scrolled through thousands of Lebkuchen tins for sale on the German eBay, never once have I yet seen the other 3 of the missing chests (of the 735# series - 8, 10, & 11).
The number is on the center back of the outside of the flat rim of the cover.
**P.S. August 2024 - I got an email gift🙏: photos of the #735/7 - 1962 Festive Chest from the owner in France!
P.S. Also, I need a volunteer partner in Germany, as I'm hoping to find & get these missing Festive Chests, & one tin for each of around 15 various old companies I learned of through these past years when I saw a tin for sale on the German eBay. I need someone who would volunteer with me in this project, and maybe buy, but to especially receive, & hold on to fill a box to mail to me in 10 or 20 kg increments. I'd buy on the German eBay.de & would be paying for the shipping/postage to you, plus the box to me. So if you're willing to help, please let me know😉.
The 1959 Festive Chest is the Peter Paul Rubens painting, The Triptych of St. Ildefonso, 1630-32; 11.5"x14.8"; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria - acquired in 1777 from Coudenberg Abbey in Antwerp, Belgium. Rubens was born in Germany in 1577, & died in 1640 in Belgium. He was considered a Flemish painter.
Click on the above to get a larger image.
To fill in the following stream of 3 tins, I have never seen #735/8 (1963); #735/10 (1965); & #735/11 (1966). If anyone reading this has any/all of those old Otto Schmidt tins, I would love to have some photos (& hopefully the tins someday). They are the final 3 missing in the historical record of the Festive Chests . . . the longest-running series of a German Lebkuchen tin with a continuous numerical pattern & name, i.e. the Festive Chest❣
![2025 - #70 (red) (Similar to 1980, but with a few design changes.) [Was also Lebkuchen Schmidt's GIFT CHEST in 2015.]](https://8dc3e3cf48.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/59b29b610669e123fa53b237c7bca489/200014745-1421514217/4502%202025%20OS%20Festive%20Chest%20-%206-Stuck%3B%20E99%2C40%20%20%282%29.webp?ph=8dc3e3cf48)
2026 - #71 to come
2027 - #72 - 100 Year Company Anniver-sary Festive Chest to come.
~ A Special Note (#1) to Introduce ~
the exquisite Festive Chest
2024 as an example
The following photos cover the full content of the newly purchased, 2024, lithographed "Festive Chest" tin. The contents of several varieties of Lebkuchen, the 6-stuck companion tin, a stollen, & a variety of a few cookies have been pretty consistent since the 1980s (as I believe it might have been since the beginning). The packaging is very beautiful. Kept in a cool place & in the tin, everything is still fresh for at least 9 months! Possibly since the beginning in 1956, because of dried glue marks on the inside of an early cover, there seems to have been a story of the history of the cover design which was a pen & ink illustrated parchment, glued inside the cover, which was continued for many years. Then, maybe in the 1980s (???), separately, but in the box, there was a colored illustration on an ivory parchment (the size of the tin) which could be framed, plus a separate story sheet in German. Possibly, the last 15-or-so years, there's now been a double-sided, German & English translation story enclosed in the box. I won't have more accurate info until I have access to all the tins someday, or someone emails me with more specific details.
Click on the following photos of the 6-stuck tin (i.e. 6 Lebkuchen inside) for a larger image & to zoom.
NOTE: See more photos of Festive Chest contents in Year 2022 below.
~ A 2nd Special Note ~
Regarding the former E. Otto Schmidt,
now Lebkuchen-Schmidt, "Festive Chest,"
honoring the famous painter, Albrecht Dürer.
His haus has been on numerous Lebkuchen tins by all companies!
Below is Year 2019's Festive Chest.
Getting to know Albrecht Dürer so you can spot his image & haus/house in a lot of
German Lebkuchen, lithographed-tin art by many companies!
2019 below - the 64th year of this Festive Chest - The house of Albrecht Dürer (a famous German painter, 1471-1528) is on the cover. Images of Albrecht & his house have been on a great number of tins by various companies through the Lebkuchen tin history -- more than one-&-a-quarter centuries already! The house is at the northern end of the Old Town area of Nüremberg which is surrounded by a medieval wall with castle towers: in the 2nd photo. There's a Youth Hostel in these ancient (500+ yrs.) castle walls😉. Dürer's self-portrait is on the cover of the 1971 Festive Chest to the right.
This is the 1971 Festive Chest.
2025 - Festive Chest - 70th year
2024 - Festive Chest - 69th year - This tin is displayed above - "Special Note Intro #1"
2023 - Festive Chest - 68th year
2022 - Festive Chest - 67th year
2021 - Festive Chest - 66th year
2020 - Festive Chest - 65th year -- (SORRY about the lighting which gave a pink/grayish cast!!)
2019 - Festive Chest - 64th year -- (Scroll up to "Special Note Intro #2" of Albrecht Dürer's haus + photos)
the companion 6-stuck --->
2018: Festive Chest - 63rd year -- "The Artist" - Albrecht Dürer as the artist & his house on the sides/ends.
2017: 90th Year Anniversary of the Otto Schmidt company - Year 62 -- The Night Guard/Town Crier Tin Plate
2015: Year 60 of the Festive Chest
2013: The tin wall hanging that came inside the Festive Chest.
2008: companion 6-stuck tin inside the Festive Chest
2007: 52nd Year of the Festive Chest
2006: 51st Festive Chest
1997: 42nd Festive Chest
1994: 39th Festive Chest -- 5th year of the Lebkuchen-Schmidt company name.
1991: 36th Festive Chest -- 2nd year that the former E. Otto Schmidt name was now Lebkuchen-Schmidt.
1990: 35th Festive Chest - 1st year of a catalog, & with colored photos of the tins for the Christmas season. The filled tin cost 72,50 DM = $48 in Germany. The E. Otto Schmidt company name was changed to Lebkuchen-Schmidt.
1989: 34th Festive Chest in the #735/34 Series which began in 1956. Lots of colorful activity in town!
1984: This was an important Festive Chest because for the 1st time, the year was pressed into the bottom, AND the 735/29 number was on the outside flat rim in the center back of the cover. It confirmed the validation that the #735 series of the Festive Chest began in 1956.
1981: 26th Festive Chest
1980: 25th Festive Chest
1978: 23rd Festive Chest - extra colorful; representing a huge segment of central European history in the 1300s.
1974: 19th Festive Chest (735/19)
1973: 18th Festive Chest (735/18); a deep maroon background w/silver filagree
1972: 17th Festive (735/17)
1969: 14th Festive Chest (735/14)
1967: 12th Festive Chest (735/12)
1964: 9th Festive Chest (735/9)
1962: 7th Festive Chest (735/7) ~ This was the first time since my flohmarkting days began in 1988 in Germany that I've seen this tin show up for sale (July 2026)!!! The color is still so brilliant, it's as if it was just made 🙂. Someone took very great care of it for the past 64 years👍🙏❣
Wow, the history we learn from the lithographed art on these historic Lebkuchen chests! The center picture on the cover is one of the 137 illuminations which make up the "Codex Manesse, the most celebrated medieval German poetry manuscript written in Zurich, Switzerland, between 1300-1340 A.D., and one of the most important literary resources in German literary history. The manuscript depicts famous poets ranging from emperors to knights." It is located at the Heidelberg University Library which has a digitized version for all to access online.
This particular subject is a famous 13th-century German knight who was a love-song poet, Herr Hartmann von Aue. He's in full armor, riding a charging warhorse. His clothing and banner are filled with white birds, specifically eagles. In the back- ground is a crawling red rosebush design in the decorative Gothic art style used throughout the entire manuscript.
GET READY FOR QUITE A SURPRISE . . . AT LEAST THIS WAS TO ME😲!
1960: 5th Festive Chest (#735/5) - 1 of only 6 I didn't have by the time we had to leave Germany in 1991, when I was buying the old ones usually $2-3.50 (3-5 Deutsch Mark), but now & then up to $9 each ☺ in the German flohmarkts! The size is 11.5" x 16.5" x 7". Then around November 2024, I saw this #735/5 bluish Festive Chest - a first time for the #735/5! The cost from the French eBay seller was E30 ($33), but it ended up being a total of $120 with S&H to the U.S. It was worth it because it was the only time I had ever seen this chest -- never on the German eBay where I've seen 100s of all the others through the years! (TTM#4250)
Then fast forward to July 2026! I'm scrolling through the French eBay, since it's where I've now found 4 of these largest chests that I've never seen before, and what do I see but a #735/5 chest in a brown background with green and gold straps! But an additional surprise were the 2 clasps on the front with a rod for the closure! I have never seen any other tin with two clasps, and this is the first to have a rod, or any kind of apparatus that goes through the hoop which the clasp fits on. Then the final surprise is the pressed in GBC°. I can't understand why the HK tin manufacturer would use the identical numbering system for two different tins for two different companies, after having changed the coloring and the one-to-two clasps .
1958: 3rd Festive Chest (735/03) ~ LEBKUCHENFABRIK ~ E. OTTO SCHMIDT ~ NURNBERG
1957: #735/2 of the E. Otto Schmidt Festive Chest series
Research says this is Kaiser Heinrich (the name on the tin) who was one of the historical figures of the Holy Roman Empire, which had a huge influence in the governments of many European countries during their early development. This illustration is said to be of Henry IV who reigned as the King of Germany beginning in 1056, & also as the Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until he was forced to step down in 1105, & then died in 1106. Th Holy Roman Empire lasted from its beginning in 800 AD with Charlemagne, until 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. Henry IV is wearing what's called "traditional imperial regalia," which includes a crown, a scepter, and is holding an imperial orb. This historical art work is in the Gothic / medieval icon style.
1956: This is the first E. Otto Schmidt Festive Chest in the #735/xx series which began in 1956, & continues until today - 2026. It's the longest, continuous-running name of a tin series that I know of, of any German Lebkuchen company which began using a tin to sell some Lebkuchen in the 1890s. (This tin for the Tins of Taste Museum is in storage, so no photos at this time. If someone also has this tin & would photo it & give me permission to post it here, it would be extremely helpful for our educational benefit.)
As I mentioned in the beginning of this page, there were two previous editions of this size of a "chest," a #730/1, 2, 3, & a #740/4 (which was not as high as the #735). The #730/2 chest had E. Otto Schmidt's name on the bottom, & then sporadically his name was on & off during the first years of the #730/x and #735/x tins. A #740/6, recently showed up on the French eBay market (June 2026), so if these #730/x and #740/x tins were "trial & error" to test the market to see if people would buy the quantity they held, I do not know. The research goes on😉!
NOTE: If anyone would like to also volunteer with me to add to this historical documentation of the German Lebkuchen tin industry, please email me at breadmuseum@aol.com. It would be a pleasure to hear from you❣ Donna Kozak, Founder
The Festive Chests included a companion 6-stuck (rhymes with spook) tin which is this next group of tins. They are from the newest in date (when known) to oldest. If you're trying to identify a tin you have, & it is this size & shape (4.5" rd. x 5.5"), it might also be in the "Dose = tins/cans" category nearer the bottom of this page. Several additional series called "Elisen" have been in this round size tin in the past: an Elisen, Emperor's Elisen, Art tin (under artists' names), a shorter Nuremberg Christmas Market (Christkindlesmarkt) Elisen, the Small Elisen, and such.
1. Festive Chest 6-stuck companion tins
2025: Bottom has required info & sell-by date of 04-04-26 (April 4, 2026).
2024: Bottom has required info & sell-by date of 04-04-25 (April 4, 2025).
2023: Bottom has required info & sell-by date of 04-04-24 (April 4, 2024).: (TTM#4024)
2022: Bottom has required info & sell-by date of 03-03-23 (March 3, 2023).
2019:
2015:
2009:
2000:
1997:
End of the "Festive Chest" Category with the included 6-stuck tins.
This next INDEX is the company's other chests & sometimes a companion tin. (The brown & green blocks.)
Following this section is the INDEX for the Dose, or "tins & cans." (The blue blocks.)
"Nüremberg" Chests in alphabetical order, & then descending by date:
2 - Colorful Nüremberg Chest
3 - Historic Nüremberg Chest - hinged cover
4 - Old Nürnberg / Alt Nüremberg Chest - hinged cover
5 - Picturesque Nüremberg Chest
6 - Small Nüremberg Chest (Kleines Nurnberg Kastchen)
7 - Nüremberg Arched Chest (half a circle - removeable cover)
8 - Nüremberg Elisen Chest (large oval - removeable cover)
9 - Nüremberg Gift Chest
10 - Nüremberg Night Chest
11 - Nüremberg Winter Chest
12 - ODDS 'n ENDS of Chests with name used once or so, -- have "Nuremberg" in the name.
Various -- "One of" or limited-named chests (not with "Nüremberg" in the name):
13 - Art Chest & the companion Art Tin
14 - Globe Chest
15 - Winter's Evening Chest
16 - Winter Village Chest
17 - ODDS 'n ENDS of Chests with name used once or so, -- they do not have "Nüremberg" in the name.
P. S. There might be additional names. They'll be added as we learn of them.
NOTE - - - At the end of the page is a section of the CHESTS with * * * UNKNOWN Names & Dates. * * * These are the "OLDER" Pre-1990 CHESTS * * * TINS * * * CONTAINERS/PACKAGING * * * that without help from company or others' records, there is no longer a way to identify the time of these items. If you do have validation of any without dates, please help by emailing me at breadmuseum@aol.com. Thanks. Donna
"Nüremberg" Chests in alphabetical order, & then descending by date.
2 - Colorful Nüremberg Chest 2018 -- first year for the "colorful" name (7" x 11" x 5 3/4")
3 - Historic Nüremberg Chest - hinged cover
2023: 7" x 11" x 5.75"; E 36,90 in Germany; (TTM#4029)
2021 ~ (TTM#3814)
2018
4 - Old Nüremberg Chest - hinged cover (8" x 12 3/3 x 6 1/2" high)
1998 ~ $50.00 new & filled; (TTM#2153)
1994 Old Nürnberg ~ A gorgeous tin that accents Europe's orange-tiled roofs throughout so many of the cities. Between now & 1998, this tin will go from an 8x12.25x5.5 rectangle with a flat cover to the domed style above.
1992 Old Nüremberg (Alt Nürnberg)
5 - Picturesque Nüremberg Chest 2009 - 7" x 11 7/8" x 4 1/4" high (from 2007-10; & 2017) (2008, 09, 10, have 3-D pop-ups) - (no tins by this name in 2011-16) - (2006 was a "Pictorial" Nüremberg Chest name)
6 - Small Nüremberg Chest (Kleines Nurnberg Kastchen) - still made in 2023; (removeable cover)
7 - Nüremberg Arched Chest (half a circle - removeable cover)
2023: 14.5" x 7.5" x 5.18"; E 37,40 in Germany; (TTM#4025)
8 - Nüremberg Elisen Chest (large oval - removeable cover)
9 - Nüremberg Gift Chest
2023 Gift Chest, 10" x 12.5" x 5.25"; E 69,90; (TTM#4027)
10 - Nüremberg Night Chest
11 - Nüremberg Winter Chest
12 - ODDS 'n ENDS of CHESTS w/"Nürnberg" in the name; name used once or so . . .
2023 ~ Nürnberger Stories Chest; 7x11x4.75; E 39,90 in Germany; (TTM#4028)
2021 - Nürnberg by Night
Various -- "One of" or limited-named chests
(without "Nüremberg" in the name):
13 - Art Chest & the companion Art Tin
2005: Art Chest ~ Jan Vermeer (1632-1675); "Girl with a Pearl Earring" ~ 1665; 42,60E in Germany; (TTM#4501)
Companion small tin: 4" x 4" x 2.5"; 7,40E in Germany; (TTM#4497)
1985: The 6-stuck, 1985 "Artist" tin. The "86.03.19" stamped date on the bottom of the tin is the "best to use by" date. This art was in "Memory of the Famous Goldsmith in Nürnberg," Wenzel Jamnitzer, 1508-1585.
Did you click on the above photos to enlarge? Don't bypass the info stories (in English) about Wenzel Jamnitzer, plus the Lebkuchen history in Nürnberg (English spelling; Nüremberg for German).
14 - Globe Chest -- In 2008 it was a gold world, tan water; 2009 was a tan world, light blue water;
This is the 2013 globe: a caramel world, deep blue water. (Was Euro 25,90 filled w/Leb.. . . about $35.00 that year in Germany @ $1.35/Euro.)
15 - Winter's Evening Chest
16 - Winter Village Chest
17 - ODDS 'n ENDS of Chests with name used once or so, -- These do NOT have "Nüremberg" in the name.
End of the "Chest" Category
The "Dosen" begin here - means "cans" or just "tins" -
(not a "chest" which might or might not have a hinged cover).
NOTE: These are listed in alphabetical order according to the given name, & the tins are in descending date from current to oldest.
INDEX:
18 - Advertising Pillar - Large
19 - Mini Pillars
20- Diabetic 6-Stuck Tin
21 - Elisen Tins -- Christkindlesmarkt-2018, Christmas City, Nürnberger, Mini, Small (or various other names)
22 - Emperor's (Kaiser) Elisen Tin -- 5-stuck
23 - Giant (Grosse) Elisen Round Tin -- Began at least in 1999 (or earlier?)
24 - Hexagonal Elisen Tin (4 7/8" point-to-point; 7 1/8" tall)
25 - Music Box Tins
26 - Rotating Tins - Carousel
27 - Suitcase - Elisen (large - still in 2020 ) & (small/mini)
28 - Telegram Box Tin (a cylinder)
29 - The "Odds 'n Ends" of short-term names, no names, etc.
P. S. There are additional names of tins as recorded in the past 35 years of catalogs, which will be added as time permits, for a more complete historical record.
18 - Advertising Pillar - Large (4 1/2" round x 8" tall) with 10 Leb. -- Began in 2008 (2022 = 15th Edition)
19 - MINI PILLARS (2 5/8" round x 7 1/8" tall) with 6 mini round Lebkuchen; Bottoms have the printed Otto Schmidt logo & content info and the stamped "use by date."
20 - Diabetic 6-Stuck Tin (Dose)
21 - Elisen Tins -- Christkindlesmarkt-2018, Christmas City, Nürnberger, Mini, Small (or various other names)
22 - Emperor's (Kaiser) Elisen Tin -- 5-stuck
23 - Giant (Grosse) Elisen Round Tin -- Began at least in 1999 (or earlier?)
24 - Hexagonal Elisen Tin (4 7/8" point-to-point; 7 1/8" tall)
25 - Music Box Tins
26 - Rotating Tins - Carousel
27 - Suitcase - Elisen (large and mini sizes: began ?xxx?; 2020 was the last year.)
28 - Telegram Box Tin (a hinged-cover cylinder)
29 - The "Odds 'n Ends" of tins - name used once or so . . .
The Unknowns' Date & Name!
Words or symbols (icons or logos) designate that the tin or chest is from the E. Otto Schmidt Lebkuchen Company. Prior to the beginning of the catalogs with its photo documentation, begun in 1990, without some other records, there's no way to determine the date, sad to say. And eventually there will be many of these tins, known only to have been made between 1927 (or more probably 1946 after WWII) and 1980-90.
This 1st section will hold the round & similar-shaped tins.
Usually these are the ones which had 5-6 Lebkuchen rounds in them.
This 2nd section will hold unknown dates of chests ~ usually these have hinged covers.
Chests had 2 or more beautifully designed bags or boxes of varieties of Lebkuchen or other spice cookies such as spekulatius.
The Seven Electors -- The Secular Estates of the Holy Roman Empire
One tin can say a lot!!!
Signs of Medieval times. Did that history carry down through today?
This is one of 2 chests I know of which honored Martin Behaim, the creator of the globe. The other is by the SEIM company.
The Etcetera
Through the years a few "odds 'n ends" turned up, connected with the Lebkuchen world. Most don't have any identification for the origin. But I'm including the few that do have the Otto Schmidt name.
Sometime around 2007-10, I had a friend in Germany who'd be a receiver of items I'd buy off the German eBay.de, & then send everything to me in a "bulk" box of 10 or 20 kg weight. These two key chains came inside one of the tins that I ordered.
2025 - I had a connection in Germany who'd receive my German eBay orders & send "bulk" boxes to me. This turned out to be from years ago. It was one of the enclosed boxes inside the large chests. I have no idea if back in the 80s in Europe when I first learned of & began buying some Lebkuchen each year, if we kept these inside containers?1? But when this was advertised on eBay.de, I thought it was one of the very large boxes that might have been made pre-WWII era. Come to find out when I received it, it's one of the tiny boxes (!!!) at 3.25" x 5.25" x 2"! Now, it's a very cool box, but not worth what I paid! (Sorry, it's too embarrassing to say!) (#4435 TTM)