--- title: Archaeology: 250-Year-Old Pretzel Discovered in Germany description: Silvia Codreanu-Windauer of the Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites called it an “archaeological sensation” canonical: https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-13T01:00:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:17:39.490Z og:title: 250-Year-Old Pretzel Found in Germany og:description: It's been called an “archaeological sensation.” og:url: https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt174f3b85d469fe99/6987837706f2c131b5334694/pretzel-germany.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The remains of 250-year old pretzels at the History Museum in Regensburg on March 9, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 250-Year-Old Pretzel Found in Germany twitter:description: It's been called an “archaeological sensation.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt174f3b85d469fe99/6987837706f2c131b5334694/pretzel-germany.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 250-Year-Old Pretzel Found in Germany by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 13, 2015 1:00 AM UTC  The remains of 250-year-old pretzels at the History Museum in Regensburg, Germany, on March 9, 2015 The remains of 250-year-old pretzels at the History Museum in Regensburg, Germany, on March 9, 2015Armin Weigel—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 13, 2015 1:00 AM UTC Archaeologists say a 250-year-old pretzel [unearthed](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/german-archaeologists-unearth-250-year-old-pretzel-n322006) in Germany could be the oldest-known knotted dough discovered in Europe. Silvia Codreanu-Windauer, of the Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites, told NBC News it was an “archaeological sensation” made during excavations last summer in Regensburg. “In my 30 years in the business I have never found an organic object.” The discoverers found the pretzel along with other fragments, croissant-shaped dough and rolls that were carbon dated to between 1700 and 1800. “The baked goods, which were typical for the religious fasting period, are very well preserved because they were originally burnt in the baking process,” Codreanu-Windauer said. \[[_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/german-archaeologists-unearth-250-year-old-pretzel-n322006)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/"},"headline":"250-Year-Old Pretzel Found in Germany","datePublished":"2015-03-13T01:00:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:17:39.490Z","description":"It's been called an “archaeological sensation”","url":"https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food","Germany","World","food and drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt174f3b85d469fe99/6987837706f2c131b5334694/pretzel-germany.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt174f3b85d469fe99/6987837706f2c131b5334694/pretzel-germany.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The remains of 250-year old pretzels at the History Museum in Regensburg on March 9, 2015.","caption":"The remains of 250-year old pretzels at the History Museum in Regensburg on March 9, 2015.","creditText":"Armin Weigel—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3743650/old-pretzel-found-germany/","name":"250-Year-Old Pretzel Found in Germany"}}]}] ```