The West German Bakers' Guild honored Chancellor Friedrich Merz with the "Grand Stutenkerl 2026" award at the Signal Iduna headquarters in Dortmund. (Photo: © Benito Barajas)
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January 2026
The West German Bakers' Guild honored Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Dortmund with the "Great Stutenkerl 2026".
Since 1988, the West German Bakers' Guild has awarded the "Großer Stutenkerl" (Great Stutenkerl) to individuals who have made significant contributions to the baking trade. The prize is intended to symbolically bestow upon the recipient strength and resilience for future endeavors. This is something Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the 2026 recipient, will certainly need. At the same time, the prize is also meant to be a signal to the government to finally lift the ban on Sunday baking for bakers.
Bakers must "finally be freed from the illegality of Sunday baking for longer than three hours ," urged Jürgen Hinkelmann, head of the state guild , pointing out that this had also been included in the coalition agreement. The response was swift. Chancellor Merz, in his acceptance speech, stated that the framework for small and medium-sized enterprises and family-run businesses must be improved and the Working Time Act addressed. "We must give you the opportunity to bake and work on Sundays, even in family-run businesses," he said. He was unwilling to accept that one could buy pre-baked goods 24 hours a day at discount stores, motorway service stations, and every airport, "while those who still bake the original products are limited to three hours on weekends."
His fondness for baked goods is well-known, and not just because of the anecdote from his recent trip to Angola, where Merz sorely missed German bread, as Hans Joachim Watzke , president of Borussia Dortmund and a long-time friend of Merz, jokingly remarked in his laudatory speech. Merz lamented that he no longer had the time to cycle to the bakery himself. " I want to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for the work you do for all of us in our country, " said Merz. "You embody a piece of our culture."
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At the same time, the Chancellor used the award ceremony to appeal to Germany to cease its pessimism . He stated that every generation has experienced upheaval and referred to the post-war period in the Ruhr region, when everything lay in ruins. "Our parents didn't complain, they took action," Merz said. "Did they talk about work-life balance and the four-day week?"
There was no reason for pessimism, but rather for confidence, and one had to "face these challenges of our time." Even if this could not be done alone. Immigrants had helped to build the Ruhr region and Germany for 100 years. And Germany could not solve the current geopolitical challenges alone, he said, referring to its foreign policy commitment to continue working "in close coordination with our European partners and friends" to ensure peace, freedom, and prosperity in a world that is fundamentally changing.
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