According to legend, an Italian monk invented the pretzel in the 7th century. He took bread dough and twisted it to look like folded hands praying, to reward children for learning their prayers. The pretzels were dubbed "pretiolas", meaning "little rewards."
In 1510, pretzels took a dramatic turn. When Ottoman Turks attempted to invade Vienna by digging tunnels underneath the city walls, the monks in the basement who were baking pretzels, heard what was happening and alerted the rest of the city, helping to defeat the Turkish attack. As a reward, the Austrian emperor gave the pretzel bakers their own coat of arms.
In the 17th century the pretzel came to symbolize undying love. Royal couples in Switzerland used a pretzel to seal the bond of matrimony.
In 1861, Julius Sturgis founded the first commercial pretzel in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Sturgis takes credit for develping the first hard pretzel. (he may have left them in the oven too long.)
In 1935, the first automated pretzel maker was developed. With it, a factory could make up to 250 pretzels an hour, far more than when they were made by hand. Today, Pennsylvania remains the American pretzel making capital, making as much as 80% of all U.S. pretzels.
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