The baguette is not only a high art of baking, from now on it is considered an "intangible cultural heritage of mankind".

This was decided by the UN cultural organization UNESCO, based in Paris, and thus caused jubilation in France far beyond the bakers' guild.

As a symbol of France, the baguette bears witness to the fortunes of the nation.

Renaissance of the baguette

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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In his cultural history of French bread, the American Steven Kaplan describes what bread consumption says about the state of society.

According to Kaplan, travelers around the world have spread the word about the unique bread that the French bake since the Enlightenment.

The baguette, that much is certain, has experienced an amazing renaissance.

The mixture of water, wheat flour, yeast and salt has awakened the creative spirit of master bakers after years of declining sales.

It's not just in the capital Paris that they compete with each other over who can make the best dough, the crispiest crust and the most graceful, light and airy Molle.

Industrial mass production was thus increasingly suppressed.

There is hardly a Frenchman who could not explain in detail why the stick tastes so much better from which baker than from the competitor.

France even affords a national bread observatory, the Observatoire du pain, which is co-financed by the bakers' and millers' guild.

Skill and culture related to French bread are now included in the representative list, as UNESCO announced on Wednesday.

The candidature was submitted in 2018 by the President of the French Bakers' Guild, and President Emmanuel Macron actively supported the application.

Every year, a "master baguette baker" is crowned, who is allowed to supply the Elysée Palace for a year.

The approximately 250 gram stick remains the most popular bread among the French.

The beginnings are obscure.

It is often said that the poles were made during the Napoleonic Wars because the soldiers were said to be able to stick them into their uniform trousers better than round loaves of bread.

Others see the origin in Vienna.

The Austrian baker August Zang introduced the baguette to Paris in the 19th century.

Decent bakers, says Steven Kaplan, initially dismissed the baguette as a "fantasy" for wealthy customers.