What's so cool about German pickles?

tourist boat cruising the Spreewald region, Germany
Read more about the Spreewald, Germany region at Spreewald.de

Some 60 miles south of Berlin, Germany the river Spree splits into 300 little creeks and canals, forming the Spreewald forest, an area of deep black fertile soil. Iron-rich river water and excellent weather provide for quality vegetable crops.

The Slavic tribe of the Sorbs settled here in the 6th century. In 1679 Dutch immigrants introduced the gherkin. With the river Spree running through the city of Berlin, a big market was in easy reach. The gherkins were preserved either as sour or as unfermented pickles.

To this day, Berliners won't eat anything but Spreewald pickles!

Kruegermann

In 1896 August-Karl Krügermann started his pickling business in the small town of Lübbenau, Germany. In 1961 the communist government nationalized the business, and grandson Kurt Krügermann fled with wife Helga and three-year old Greg to California, where they started all over again. Kurt and Helga stayed true to their Old World family recipies and today supply some of the finest gourmet food markets with their high-quality pickles.

The cucumbers Kruegermann uses are grown on the Fazio Family Farm in Portland, Oregon, and on a family owned farm in Stockton, California. The cabbage for Sauerkraut, Kraut Salad and Rotkohl comes from a local farmer in the Edna Valley near San Luis Obispo, California, who grows it from Kruegermann's special variety of seeds. Kruegermann only uses beets grown in Texas. Fresh spices are grown on Abraham Farm in Fresno, California. Kruegermann grows, harvests, and dries their own bay leaves. Cucumber seeds for Senfgurken mustard pickles are imported from Germany, and the cucumbers are grown in California's Central Valley. All Kruegermann products are paseurized without using preservatives. Kruegermann complies to strict California canning laws. Every batch of every product has precise records of ingredients and not only has been field inspected before release but is also lab inspected with all individual samples on file with the State of California. View all Kruegermann products.

Spreewaldhof

In 1991 siblings Karin Seidel and Konrad Linkenheil purchased a pickle processing plant that used to be run by the East German communist government. They started a new Spreewaldhof company and ran it from €3.58M to €69M in just 12 years!

You can buy Spreewaldhof pickles here.