What is the story behind the pretzel's special shape? The pretzel represents folded arms across the chest. In that way, it was common to pray during the Middle Ages. According to a scholars, the most popular story is that it was an Italian monk who produced the special pastry in the 7th century. The monk wanted to reward his students with small pieces of bread shaped in the same way as the children's arms when they crossed them during prayer. The pastries were named "pretiolas" - "little rewards". (Translated from Swedish). https://varldenshistoria.se/kultur/gastronomi/varifran-har-kringlan-fatt-sin-form
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"Geschichte". Verkehrsverein-Speyer. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.