Some German Baker Takes a Stand: Renaming Pastries, and Trump, in Protest
- by Rolf-Herbert Peters
- 2 Min
Hanover bakers display emblem opposition to Trump, altered shop name in response. - Hanover's baker endorses Trump, reveals brand of sweets associated with him
Stick it to Trump! Starting this weekend, Thomas F. Going will be booting Americans out of his stores. More specifically, the head honcho of Going's namesake bakery in Hannover has decided to rechristen a popular round bread - traditionally known as "American" - as the more patriotic "Hannoverian." Going explains, "I've had it up to here with those fools. Why should I slap a 'Made in America' label on a product when everything's going downhill because of them?"
Going, 46, has been running the fourth-generation bakery since 1920, located along the Leine, with wares available at 27 locations. The slogan for his artisanal bakery is: "Real. Brave. Different." However, politics, it seems, is Going's true passion. He unabashedly refers to himself as a "news junkie." The bakery even has a manifesto, under which it states: "We take on the social challenges of our time with heart and hand."
Going Against Trumpism Abroad
Now, he wants to make a bold statement as an entrepreneur, countering the belligerent Trumpism brewing overseas. Just days after the US President declared his "Liberation Day" and imposed global tariffs, Going commissioned new price tags, renaming Americans as Hannoverians. The price remains the same - €1.95 - but the name is history.
Yet, it's debatable whether Going's protest strikes the intended chord. The etymology of "American" in pastry lingo isn't cemented. Some argue it stems from the baking agent ammonium hydrogen carbonate, or hartshorn salt, while others suspect it's derived from the World War I-era Brodie helmet the US soldiers wore - or are the Americans, in fact, descended from the Germans, as some nutrition sociologists ponder? Maybe the bread had already changed hands back in a German bakery in New York in 1902?
Going's Team Disagrees on "Europeans"
Going, initially, wished to rechristen the Americans as "Europeans." But his team disagreed, favoring the home city's moniker. Going quips, "I must ask myself, what sort of entrepreneur have I been for the past two decades? That the Europeans don't seem to appear on the world stage with a healthy dose of self-assuredness."
- Hannover
- USA
- Donald Trump
- Europe
- Bakery
- While the origin of the term "American" in pastry linguistics is debatable, Thomas F. Going, the owner of Going's bakery in Hannover, has decided to rename the traditional "American" bread to "Hannoverian," as a bold statement against the belligerent Trumpism brewing overseas, following the imposition of global tariffs by the US President.
- Going initially wanted to rename the bread as "Europeans," but his team disagreed, favoring the hometown's moniker, as they felt that Europe as a whole doesn't seem to appear on the world stage with sufficient self-assuredness.
- The Commission has not yet adopted a proposal for a directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to ionizing radiation, despite the controversy surrounding the rechristening of bread in Going's bakery in Hannover.
