History of the World: The Invention of Pretzels

Interestingly, pretzels played a part in saving Vienna from invading Turks in the 16th century. The Turkish army had been digging tunnels under the city walls late at night in order to issue a surprise attack. But Viennese pretzel makers who were up late baking (to ensure fresh pretzels in the morning, of course) head the digging and thwarted the attack. The king awarded the bakers with their own coat of arms featuring a pretzel. To this day, many Viennese bakers still display the coat of arms outside of their shops.

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