206. The Hahn Hearth Oven Bakery

You are on the south side of the street facing the Brick Building.

The Hahn Bakery has been in operation since 1864 and it’s the only original colony bakery still baking.  Each village had a bakery to supply bread to the communal kitchens, it was delivered daily by horse drawn wagon. The bread was larger than what we see today as the loaves were about 4 lbs each. On Saturdays a special treat arrived with the baker. He brought coffeecakes with delicious fruit fillings in the middle to grace the tables on Sunday morning.  

Frieda Oehl remembered, “[My father was the baker. He] got up early in the morning about 4 o’clock. Then by noontime, all the bread was baked…. [He] had this little wagon…with racks in it. He drove around the colony and he had a bell and when he came, he rang the bell…Then the girls would come out [of the kitchen] with a basket and tell him how many loaves they needed for that day…At Christmas time, people came to use the ovens…. You could bake a lot of things after the bread was baked….[P]people would have to make an appointment to do their Christmas cookies.”

The Hahn Bakery is still very popular with the Amana residents and visitors; often the breads and coffee cakes are sold out by 9am.