Mozartkugel

Mozartkugeln

Assorted Mozartkugeln
Alternative names	Mozartbonbon
Type	Confectionery
Place of origin	Austria, Germany
Main ingredients	Pistachio marzipan, nougat, dark chocolate
Cookbook: Mozartkugeln  Media: Mozartkugeln

Mozartkugel shop in downtown Salzburg

A Mozartkugel (English: Mozart ball), is a small, round confection made of marzipan, nougat and dark chocolate. It was originally known as the “Mozartbonbon”, and was created by Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst in 1890 and named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Since then, similar products have been made by other manufacturers, with a variety of similar recipes. Some are hand-made and others are industrially produced.

Origins

Paul Fürst, a confectioner, came to Salzburg in 1884 and opened a shop at number 13, Brodgasse. He made Mozartbonbon for the first time in 1890, later changing the name to Mozartkugeln. He established a company, Fürst, that continues to sell Mozartkugeln.

Recipe

The original recipe for Mozartkugeln is as follows: First, a ball of green pistachio marzipan covered in a layer of nougat is produced. This ball is then placed on a small wooden stick and coated in dark chocolate. The stick is then placed vertically, with the ball at the top, on a platform to allow the chocolate to cool off and harden. Finally, the stick is removed; the hole that it leaves behind is filled with chocolate coating, and the ball is wrapped in tin foil. The balls remain fresh for about eight weeks at room temperature.

Rights to the name

When imitation products began to appear, Fürst initiated a court process to attempt to secure a trademark. At first, the dispute concerned only confectionery producers in Salzburg, but later spread to include the competition from Germany. The result was an agreement which obliged Fürst’s competitors to use other names. The Mirabell firm, based in Grödig near Salzburg, chose the name, “Real Salzburg Mozartkugeln”. The Bavarian producer, Reber, opted for “Real Reber Mozartkugeln”. In 1896, a dispute between Fürst and a subsidiary of the Swiss food producer, Nestlé, which wanted to market “Original Austria Mozartkugeln”, was decided in the third instance. Only Fürst's products may be called "Original Salzburg Mozartkugeln".^[1]

Dispute between Mirabell and Reber

At the end of the 1970s, a dispute arose between the Mozartkugeln producers Mirabell and Reber over the trademark. A provisional agreement was reached in 1981 between representatives of the Austrian and German governments, whereby only Austrian producers were to be allowed to use the label "Mozartkugeln". Reber protested against this agreement, and the EC-Commissioner in Brussels charged with deciding in the affair finally declared the agreement invalid.^[2] This is why Reber may legitimately and continuously use his Genuine Reber Mozart-Kugeln trademark, though with a hyphen in-between.

Nonetheless, only Mirabell Mozartkugeln are allowed to be round. Other industrially produced Mozartkugeln must have one flat side.^[3]

Trivia

The Mozartkugel won the gold medal at a fair in Paris in 1905.

In the winter of 2006, 80 oversized polyester Mozartkugeln, each with a diameter of 1.6 metres, were placed in the old town of Salzburg. They had been designed by artists. On the night of the 27th of March, vandals removed one of these Mozartkugeln from the Franziskanergasse, where it had been bolted to the ground. They then rolled the Mozartkugel onto the street, causing damages of 7000 euro.^[4]

References

1. ↑ Mozartkugeln: echt oder original?
2. ↑ Mozartkugel: Pralinenkrieg ums Original
3. ↑ Nur die Kugel rollt
4. ↑ derStandard.at

External links

• History of the Mozartkugel (in German)
• Café Konditorei Fürst Salzburg