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Bierberg Bakery

November 9th, 2011    •  by Bethia    •   8 Comments »

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the annual re-opening of the Bierberg Bakery.

Ever since we started our German Village Walking tour in May, we’ve been walking past their location (at 729 South Fifth Street) every Saturday afternoon and stopping to talk to our tour guests about the history of this quirky little business that only opens for 2 months a year.

And now, cookie-lovers, they’re open! Here’s what to look for:

german village holiday cookies

The business started in 1913, and was opened by Theresa Bierberg when her husband fell ill and she needed to support her family. The bakery’s original location was on S. 18th Street and they moved to their current location in 1971. Theresa had been a cook in her native Germany and was proud to say that she had baked a cake for the Kaiser. The bakery is now run by her granddaughter Helen Bierberg Walsh who continues the family tradition with help from her children, the fourth generation of Bierberg bakers.

german holiday cookies ohio

Helen is also helped by friends and there are usually two or three people baking in their cosy little kitchen. They bake around 25 varieties of cookies and cakes, some of which come in various shapes and sizes, as well as bourbon-soaked fruit cakes and stollen. Helen’s friend and fellow-baker Kathy, who has been baking at Bierburg for the past 8 years, patiently explained all of the cookies to us as she opened the metal tins that the cookies are stored in.

stollen columbus

The bakers are helped by various inventions and tools that Helen’s father, Gus, who ran the bakery for many years, invented, such as a home made warmer to keep the chocolate that they use for dipping cookies at just the right temperature and consistency.

columbus holiday traditions, christmas cookies columbus

The cookies are sold by weight, and all cost the same $16 per lb, which makes it easy to try one of everything or pick your favorites. My new favorite is their unassuming but oh-so-good fruit bars with the gingerbread-like lebkuchen and the chocolate dipped marzipan running close behind. The bakery is currently open 9am-5pm weekdays and 9-3pm on Saturdays. Closer to the holidays they will also be open on Sundays. They are always open for the German Village Lights on the first Sunday of December (December 4th 6-10pm). The bakery is cash or check only. You can call ahead to check if they are open at 614.443.9959

Bierberg Bakery on Urbanspoon


8 Comments to “Bierberg Bakery”

  1. I have been so wanting to get here! I learned about it last year after Christmas, so I put it on my calendar for this year! The difficult part will be choosing which cookies to buy!!!

  2. Rex McIntyre
    November 19, 2012

    I’m not much of junk food junkie. I don’t eat much sweets either. But if a small business can stay open through depressions and recessions i must go there and support them.

  3. Learned about this bakery from a friend and stumbled upon it his fall. Inspired by the first snow of winter I made a 20 mile trek to buy my cookies. It’s like buying a childhood memory for the cookies are like those my German-American grandma baked. They are authentic German and worth the price and effort. Wish they were open longer!

  4. Bethia, I have to thank you for taking this photo of the Bierberg cookie list oh-so-many years ago. I have been trying to track down the name of a cookie for almost four years (totally forgetting that i blogged about it, also in 2011). with some serious internet digging, i’ve managed to locate a recipe for the vanilla sticks and will give it a try in my on-going effort to master the (cut) nut meringue cookie. Miss you!!

  5. DIANA ANDERSON
    December 27, 2018

    I WAS INTRODUCED TO BIERBERG COOKIES BY MY GRANDMOTHER. THEY WERE A CHRISTMAS TRADITION IN MY HOME FOR OVER 100 YEARS. IN 2014 MY 100 YEAR OLD FATHER WAS DEVASTATED TO LEARN WAS CLOSED- HOWHE (AND I LOVED THE WILHELM COOKIE). HE ASKED IF I OULD MAKE, BUT ALAS, NO RECEIPE. IT IS NOW 4 YEARS LATER AND I STILL CAN FIND NO RECEIPE- ANY HELP??
    THANK YOU, DIANA

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