** TINS of TASTE MUSEUM ** within the NationalBreadMuseum.org
GERMANY
ANKER LEBKUCHEN
F. AD. RICHTER & CIE
By all information found today, having to rely on the internet (without being in Germany, nor knowing the German language, & not having the best libraries & research resources to access, OR not having a "Lebkuchen tin historian" to associate with, if there is such a person), this tin might be one of the two oldest in the Tins of Taste Museum's treasured Lebkuchen tins -- somewhere at 1890 - 1910. It appeared for sale on the U.S. eBay in 2023 in Indiana, USA.
A Bit of Background
Originally in doing this website page, there was one internet source (which I've now removed) that was a good report of history of F. Ad. Richter's life (Friedrich Adolf Richter), but now that link says "error, page not found, or forbidden access!" It was from that report that I got the following information: Friedrich was born in Germany in 1846, to a dad who was a master baker. As Richter went through life, he had a slew of businesses & his share of ups & downs. And in that biographical history of his life, there were only three mentions of Lebkuchen:
1) His Lebkuchen factory in Nuremberg became the quality manufacturer of
cookies and cakes in Germany;
2) Richter was famous for the best chocolate (also cocoa and hard candy) in Germany;
3) Nuremberg (Lebkuchen and cookie factory, 1884 - 1913; eventually became part of
Schöller Ice Cream);
When he died on Dec. 25, 1910, he was one of the ten richest men in Germany. But within ten years his heirs were broke!
P.S. I just came across another piece of this company's history. An article (link below) about the SEIM Lebkuchen Company tells of this: In 1914, the Seim Brothers' Lebkuchen company "took over the production facilities of "Anker-Lebkuchen-Werke Richter & Co." Then in 1916, Seim acquired "the entire factory complex of the former Anker Works." They were able to hang on during WWI and expanded in 1922. Whether Seim ever sold a tin under the name of Anker-Richter is unknown. So now I wonder how old the tin chest is (2nd set of photos below). Seim's Lebkuchen company grew until WWII when it was completely destroyed. The brothers began to build back up; both died in 1947; their sons took over & sold to Schöller in 1985, which was acquired by Lambertz in 1994.
(https://nuernberginfos.de/traditionsfirmen-aus-nuernberg/seim-lebkuchenfabrik.php)
Around the very edge of the lid, upper half (no photo):
Extra feine Runde Echte Nurnberger = Extra fine round real Nurnberger
Additional & Deeper Background Info:
The discovery of the F. Ad. Richter & Cie Lebkuchen company has been very interesting, with around another 25-30 hours of research/reading/annotating info. I came upon the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum which holds an "EXTRA FEINE RUNDE ANKER-LEBKUCHEN F.AD. RICHTER UND CIE K.K. HOFL. NÜRNBERG" tin (dose). The link to view it is: https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/E5Q3F5DJRGBOALNUO2OTFXIKGLHOEYTS Their (quite blurry & fuzzy) photos show two, very different ends, so evidently both the cover & bottom are a painted, embossed, pressed tin (not unusual with some older tins). Also of note is the name which has an added "CIE K.K. HOFL. NÜRNBERG," (words not found on the tin on this page). I wonder which came first, why the difference, etc.?? In the research, I found one other, sold in the USA in 2019, with the same cover as the one on this page, but with an entirely different panel design which seemed to be in tan and blue. That might not have been the original tin???
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ANKER-LEBKUCHEN
This "chest" surfaced in January 2024 from an estate sale in the northwestern part of the U.S. What's unusual is that it has a unique metal (not tin) handle, and it's the first I've ever seen with a lock (no longer working, but the key fits). As to handles, there are tins with other styles. Also, some tins since the 1980s have had music boxes built in. An older, upright Haeberlein-Metzger tin with 2 doors has a knob as a door handle. So there's been a variety of add-ons. But this tin with a lock makes the tin resemble the old fashioned "lock boxes" which were used to hold money or important papers, especially if this tin was made within the 1st half of the 1900s - before WWI or WWII.
There are also 2 additional features . . . #1, the name on the bottom is exactly like the "ANKER-LEBKUCHEN with the anchor symbol" that's on the round tin on this page. Could this also have been in the ANKER/Richter 1884-1913 time period?
#2, Then below is an Anker print on heavy cardstock paper. --->
This colorful print, with a hook to hang it on the wall, was inside the Anker chest. A professional restorer would have the knowledge to more accurately date this by the three layers that make up the print paper, & the small, waffle-like texture on the card board/paper stock it is glued to. It reminds me of early 1900-1925 paper materials of some old photos, boxes, and other ephemera from my grandmothers' time.
After a person has traveled to a place, I believe the interest in that area is heightened regarding wanting to know a bit more of its culture, history, people, art, languages, &/or whatever other personal interests a person has. And so, too, it is with pointing out some details in the above picture. There are great, medieval walls around Nurnberg to this day. In fact, a Youth Hostel is inside an area of it - near Albrecht Durer's house. So in noticing the arched wall with windows along the top, that's across a river that flows through town. The style of the red & white awning over the Anker Lebkuchen stall is still used today for the Nurnberg Christkindlesmarkt stalls. If, in the last photo, the mark after the "5" price is authentic and known by someone, it would help date this tin chest and picture. My guess is sometime around 1900-1914, prior to WWI.
(from a Google "search" menu item):
Here's a note on the earliest mentions of Christkindlesmarkts, first called "December markets," in Europe:
Vienna (1296) (the capital of Austria today)
Munich (1310) (This & the following are in Germany.)
Bautzen (1384) (East of Dresden, so it's the city in this list that is nearest to Poland & the Czech Republic today.)
Frankfurt (1393)
Dresden (1434)
Nuremberg Main Market Square - mid-1500s; first time mentioned in writing (1628)
(https://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/en/christmas-market/history-of-the-market)