** TINS of TASTE MUSEUM ** within the NationalBreadMuseum.org
GERMANY - Gebr. Seim Lebkuchen
All sorts of symbols have been used on Seim's tins through the years. Some represent government regulations, or marks of a quality product, or a logo specific to the identify of Seim as a Lebkuchen company.
It's not known if tins of Lebkuchen or even Lebkuchen itself are still produced under the Gebr. Seim name. (Gebr. is short for Gebrüder; means "brothers.") A website search states that the company (in name at least) has been owned by Lambertz (of Aachen, Germany) since 1998. Another source states 1999.
Two interesting documents of Seim history ~~ These will probably open up in German, so go up to the 3 vertical dots in the upper right of this computer screen, click to open, scroll down to "translate" & click, click "English" in the pop-up, & you'll have the article in English.
https://nuernberginfos.de/traditionsfirmen-aus-nuernberg/seim-lebkuchenfabrik.php
When I first saw this tin a few years back, I was ecstatic after I translated the story on the back. Here I was in my mid-70s and I had never heard of this man, even after having studied so many history books 10-20 years ago while our youngest son went through high school and college, getting a secondary history degree! When I grew up on the farm, I couldn't give two hoots about history, as it wasn't relative to milking cows from age 6 on, & doing the other farm chores. BUT, while having a chance to gradually travel throughout this entire country (all but 2 states), & several dozen countries on 5 continents, that yearning for "wishing & then wanting to know" kicked in!!! It's all so meaningful to what we have today & the directions in which our country, & others, are going.
So in my mind I know most of the globe like the back of my hand, but it never occurred to me that there was a specific person's identity to the formation of the globe itself. I've used 100s & 100s of maps through my years of traveling, & just figured the globe evolved out of all the navigation maps created by, & because of, a dozen-or-so explorers I can still recite from grade school. So the information on this tin, and the gorgeous, colorful art work is priceless. It's the main reason why the tins are so significant - - they are invaluable textbooks.
A bit of a side note: A special blessings with this tin is that a granddaughter was in Germany for the 2022-23 school year. It was the first time I had ever seen this tin, so I bought it on the German eBay & it was sent to her at the university, but never delivered! Eventually it ended up back with the seller & I didn't have anyone for over a year as a connection in Germany. I told the seller to go ahead and resell it because it's always the chance I take. But he hung on to it, just in case. By the following Christmas he said he was sending it to me as a Christmas gift because there was no one else he knew of who would appreciate this tin more than me 😉🧡, so now I get to share it with the world 🙏. With deep gratitude to R.S. in Berlin! Many thanks.
So here we go . . . Martin Behaim . . . 1459 - 1507 . . . only 48 years of life.
"The young Nuremberg cloth merchant's son acquired all the knowledge of the world and celestial studies of the time from the well-known, learned/scholar Regiomontanus. On a trading trip he entered the service of the King of Portugal and in 1485 looked for a sea route to India along the western coast of Africa.
"He recorded his travel experiences - visiting Nuremberg - on a globe; This is how the first terrestrial globe was created.
The benefit of Martin Behaim's nautical knowledge, maps, and equipment was also Christoph Kolumbus', who was the first to seek the sea route to India westward across the open sea in 1492 and discovered America in the process." (P.S. NOTE: "America" didn't mean the land of the United States, but of the N-S American continents.)
A TIMELINE of DATED TINS & CHESTS
Going from the most recent to oldest.
Following the dated are those of "Unknown Dates.
1987 ~ a 6-stuck tin ~ Nüremberg's historic places ~
NOTE: When it's stated that a tin was "Made in West Germany" . . . here's some history. The country became divided as "East" & "West" Germany around 1945, at the end of WWII. The "free" West Germany became so by the British, French, & U.S. East Germany was controlled by communist Russia (actually, the Soviet Union, or USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). It remained so until the Berlin Wall came down in Nov. 1989.
The original capital city of Berlin was also divided (into 4 zones, 3 of them "free" & 1 communist, like the country), & it was inside the communist East Germany zone. So to get from West Germany to Berlin, you needed to drive through the East Germany communist zone on a road nicknamed "The Corridor."
It was a month before the Berlin Wall came down (little did we know what had been going on with meetings in churches for 2 years by then, all through the lands of what later became all their own independent countries from "Mother Russia"). So at the border of West/East Germany, our driver had to get out & watch a 20-minute "do & don't" film about driving the 60-or-so miles to the fortified border (which was about 20 "similar to toll booths" lined up) of West Berlin, & the driver had to hand over a pass he received after watching the film. We were told (in strong language!!!) that during this "Corridor" drive, not to take any photos along the way (were told there were cameras watching our entire drive), couldn't go off the road into the villages, nor stop for roadside sellers (mushrooms, fruits, other forest food items, etc.).
I could see the "watchtowers" in the small villages with the communist guards watching & noting all the movements of all the people going from place to place. Besides other motorized vehicles, or people walking, and the sellers, there were a number of horses pulling carts or wagons. (Two years later we experienced that again when driving through Poland, with a horse & wagon being the only transportation of our elderly relatives.)
If you didn't arrive at the Berlin border within a 15-minute time period of the allotted drive time @ 60 mph for the distance, the communist police would be out to find you! Once in West Berlin, crossing through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin will need to be another story for another day😃 (or another tin)! It was quite an adventure that I am very thankful for, & had the opportunity to experience, so I can tell that story of communist control during what was called "The Cold War" era.
The P.S. is that within a year of The Wall coming down, I drove back to Berlin with some of the kids "just to see," & to walk the entire path of the "Wall" (with very little still standing) from Checkpoint Charlie to Brandenburg Gate. There was no West/East Germany border, & all those "toll booths" were still at the entrance to Berlin, but pushed off to a distant location. Remembering what we had gone through less than a year before, they looked like "eerie" props for those "end of the world" movies when no one, but the few actors, were alive!
A note to keep in mind while archiving, and still discovering old Lebkuchen companies and the history of them, is that Seim had this large chest (10.5"x14.75"x5" -- similar in size to the Otto Schmidt Festive Chest which is "Lebkuchen-Schmidt" today). The one below has a 747/4 (series) number on the back rim of the cover, so I believe there also must have been 747/1-3 chests! Maybe they'll appear one day 🙂. If you have one, maybe you'd photo it & send the photos to me at breadmuseum@aol.com to help document this Seim Lebkuchen tin history (or even ask me how to donate it to this project). Donna Kozak, Founder
1985
All the following photos are in a gallery. You can click on the 1st one & then continue with arrows to view a larger image. I begin with the cover to determine the shape & size, then begin with the seam on the left of a panel. Usually that begins with the back or left side. I keep moving the tin in a clockwise direction, & then the bottom if there's some info. (Cost of 15.99€ + 6€ = $24.20 in Germany 2019)
1961 or 1962 ~ The following 6-Stuck (rhymes with spook) tin was purchased here in the U. S. Amazingly it still had an import sticker on the cover. A website search says that a Martin Berg Import Co. began in 1961. Today it's listed in Warren, Michigan, as a confectionery and candy company. So figuring it's the same company, this tin would be dated either 1961 or 1962 because there's no zip code in the Michigan address. The Christmas holiday season for 1961-'62 was before the Zip Code which began in July of 1963. (Cost of $7.99+$8.25S&H = $17.46 in 2021.)
CHESTS, then TINS of UNKNOWN DATES
ABOVE: Like a jewelry box, I wish we knew the date of this tin. I believe it's the only one I've ever seen with raised feet. Bottom of the tin: Nürnberger Lebkuchen - Chocoladen u. Waffelfabrik - GERB. SEIM, NÜRNBERG
