Various forms of… gingerbread!

December is in full swing; Christmas is just around the corner… is it time to make gingerbread? If you need inspiration or new patterns, you will find them in the Polish Music Library. Surprised? Our Pictures collection contains the most inventive gingerbread moulds from the 18^th–20^th centuries. Among them, there are obviously music motifs, so we have a busker, a lutenist, a drummer boy, a harpist man and woman, as well as a violinist and his instrument.

However, as it’s widely known, the thematic scope of our collections is much broader, also when it comes to baking moulds. You will also find designs depicting people at work: a woman spinner, a woman churning butter, a harvester and a digger; moreover, there are portraits of the bourgeoise, including an elegant bachelor, a knight in richly decorated armour and a man in a tailcoat. One of the most charming gingerbread motifs are animals, among which you can see a dog, a deer, a peacock, a rooster, a lion, a lioness, a hoopoe, a squirrel and a mysterious animal churning butter.

The most elaborate forms, such as a deer surrounded by intricate plant motifs, come, of course, from Toruń, the Polish gingerbread capital. Actually, not only Polish but also European – for centuries, Toruń’s only serious competitor in the gingerbread market was Nuremberg. The spicy dough, with its distinct taste, is still associated with the city of Copernicus as strongly as its most important monuments. Piotr Perkowski, writing Toruń Sketches for orchestra, which consists of two parts, Pomnik Kopernika [Monument of Kopernik] and Kościół Panny Marii [Church of the Virgin Mary], supposedly intended to add a third part: Targ na pierniki [A Gingerbread Market].

And speaking of the market – did you know that the city of Bergen builds a gingerbread city every year? If you feel like baking your own, we suggest starting with an interesting gingerbread in the shape of a church. Enjoy!