Christoph Wagner's culinary legacy: 3,000 books for Dresden!

Christoph Wagner's culinary legacy: 3,000 books for Dresden!

The German Culinary Archives in Dresden has received a significant donation: the extensive cookbook collection by Christoph Wagner, one of Austria's most influential gastrosophists. The collection was handed over by his family and represents a significant new addition to the archive, which was founded by the Saxon State Library (SLUB) and the Technical University of Dresden (TUD). The collection includes around 3,000 works, including cookbooks, menus and menus from all over the world, as well as handwritten notes and protocols from test meals that document Wagner's research and travels.

Christoph Wagner, who was editor-in-chief of “Gault Millau Austria” from 1984 to 1998, had a decisive influence on the culinary debate in German-speaking countries. He understood cuisine as a cultural phenomenon and questioned the stories that recipes tell. His best-known works include “The Good Kitchen” and the “Inn Guide”. Wagner was born on May 23, 1954 in Linz and died on June 17, 2010 in Vienna. His widow, Renate Wagner-Wittula, emphasized at the handover that the collection should be passed on as a whole in order to fulfill Wagner's wish that the books can be used by many interested parties.

Valuable new addition for research

The General Director of the SLUB, Katrin Stump, emphasizes the appeal of this collection for science. The holdings of the archive, which was founded on October 10, 2022, will in future be digitally indexed and made available free of charge via an online portal. This opens up access to one of the largest publicly accessible collections of cookbooks and menus in German-speaking countries.

The TU Dresden, in cooperation with the SLUB, sees the collection as a valuable basis for research into food culture and culinary aesthetics. Prof. Josef Matzerath and Andreas Rutz from TUD emphasize the importance of this collection, which brings a comprehensive inventory from Austria to the archive for the first time.

The culinary tradition of Dresden

Dresden and Saxony can look back on a long tradition in culinary art and food culture. This culture is reflected, among other things, in the dining culture of the Dresden court. One of the first German professional cookbooks was written in Dresden over 400 years ago: Johann Deckhardt's “New Kunstreich und Nützliches Kochbuch” was published in 1611 and is considered the first Saxon cookbook.

In 1819, Franz Walcha from Dresden published one of the first cookbooks for modern fine dining in Europe. The work represented a milestone in the development of culinary literature. These historical roots testify to the significant influence that the city had on the development of culinary art in Germany and make the acquisition of Wagner's collection an important cultural event.