German Baumkuchen ‘tree cake’ survived a disaster and world wars to become a Japanese favorite
NINOSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Baumkuchen originates in Germany but has become an extremely popular dessert in Japan, where a prisoner of war on a small western island started making the dessert that flourished in his new homeland.
In Japan, where Baumkuchen festivals are held regularly, the confection, called “tree cake” due to its resemblance to a ringed trunk, is today considered a symbol of longevity and prosperity.
Japanese adaptations, including those using maccha and sweet potatoes, are popular gifts at weddings and birthdays. Baumkuchen is sold in gift boxes in upscale stores, and smaller, individually wrapped versions can be found in grocery stores.
But the dessert’s early years are associated with a devastating earthquake and two world wars.
Baumkuchen making is one of the most popular activities ninoshimaJust a 20 minute ferry ride away Hiroshima. But visitors should also learn about the sleepy island’s role in Japan’s wartime history, according to Kazuaki Otani, head of Juccheim Ninoshima Welcome Center.
At the open-air centre, built on top of a prisoner of war camp, amateur bakers pour the dough onto a bamboo pole and roast the mixture over charcoal fires. As the surface turns light brown, a new layer is shed, creating brown rings as the cake thickens and the sweet scent spreads throughout the picnic area.
A German confectioner named Karl Juchheim cooked Baumkuchen this way while he was imprisoned on the island more than 100 years ago.
During Japan’s period of militaristic expansion beginning in the late 1890s, Ninoshima served as a military quarantine station and nearby Hiroshima developed into a major military center. About 4,700 mostly German civilians and soldiers were held in 16 camps in Japan during World War I, Otani said. German prisoners at Ninoshima were given “a certain degree of freedom” and were allowed to cook, Otani said.
When Juchheim was captured by the Japanese in 1915, he was running a bakery in Qingdao, China, then a German province. He came to Ninoshima with about 500 German prisoners of war in 1917 and is believed to have tested his Baumkuchen recipe there, Otani said.
When the war ended in 1918, Juchheim and approximately 200 prisoners of war remained in Japan. In March 1919, Juchheim’s Baumkuchen made its commercial debut in Japan at the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition. Historical documents show that his handmade cake was extremely popular and attracted large crowds of Japanese visitors.
The confectioner opened a pastry shop in Yokohama, near Tokyo, in 1922. 1923 Great Kanto earthquake It ruined the business, forcing Juchheim to move his family to the western port city of Kobe, where he opened a coffee shop serving Baumkuchen. That store was demolished US incendiary bombs In Kobe, two months before the end of World War II.
However, with the help of his wife, Elise, and his loyal Japanese staff, Juchheim Co., Ltd. continued and expanded his business in Kobe, where he still operates as one of Japan’s top confectioners.
The atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later killed more than 210,000 people by the end of that year. In the aftermath, approximately 10,000 seriously injured victims were sent from Hiroshima to Ninoshima for treatment and temporary shelter. Experts say many died there and most of their remains have yet to be found.
Juchheim died of illness the day before, on August 14, 1945, in a hotel in Kobe. Japan announced its surrender.
“His cooking was an expression of his desire for peace,” Otani said. “I hope that by sharing with visitors how things were back then, it will give people the opportunity to reflect on peace.”
