In 2026, back.kulturen focuses on the manifold future of the baking craft in Germany: five events between January and September, taking place across the country. From field to grain, mill to bakery, and sourdough to work culture. From a new practice – along the entire value chain.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

From January to September, we visit places where the craft of making good bread is already being re-imagined. You, and more people from the grain world, will have a look at the challenges everyone in the scene is facing: a shortage of skilled workers, the decline of mills, rising energy and raw material prices, and questions about organizational structures and regional value chains. Instead of competition or complaints, the focus is on collaborative observation, knowledge sharing, and inspiration from practical experience. 

Back.kulturen encourages you to question common practices in the industry together with others, to stand up against price pressure, quality dilution, and industrial shortcuts, and to develop working methods that enable good soil, better working conditions, and ultimately really good bread.

FOR WHOM?

Are you a baker, miller, farmer, entrepreneur, apprentice, or activist involved in the bread value chain? Would you like to play an active role in shaping the present and future of the baking trade? Join us at one or more of our events!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

At back.kulturen, you visit bakeries, mills, and fields. Each time, a specific topic along the value chain is addressed: transparency from field to crumb, climate-adapted agriculture, new and old grain varieties, regional value creation, new organizational models, an alternative education, transitioning into the field, and a work culture that empowers people instead of burning them out.

25th Januar
Stuttgart – brotique – Work culture, craft, values
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15th March
Eutin – Bäckerslüüd – Cooperative, community-supported, collective?
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18th May 
Erding – Biohof Lex – Climate fields, grain diversity, baking characteristics
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08 June
Leipzig – Lerchenbergmühle – Building regional value chains
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September (tbc)
Berlin – Education, career change, company succession
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The events take place in organisations that are pursuing unconventional and promising paths, even if they are not the easiest ones. Hosts open their doors, provide insights into their practices and put their working methods up for discussion. We have invited additional speakers from the German grain scene to provide further perspectives. There is more room for networking during the joint “Brotzeit” snack or during the coffee break.

PROGRAM

Work culture, craft, values – a new everyday life in the bakery
brotique, Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg)
25.01.2026, 11:00-17:00

Rising costs, tight calculations, low staffing, few young professionals. At the same time customers who want quality but rarely understand the price behind it. But truly good bread means more than crisp crusts and soft crumbs: natural ingredients and fairly paid labour matter, too. So what does a bakery look like that ooperates stably without compromising quality and where people enjoy working?

To kick off back.kulturen, Brotique opens its doors to discuss creating an attractive work culture in the baking craft. Alongside a tour of the bakery, Sophie Henne (Brotique) and Freija Woitke & Korbinian Schuster (Brotraum) share what guides their work. We’ll discuss which decisions in day-to-day operations determine whether teams stay or burn out, and whether a business remains economically stable or constantly on the brink.

among others with
Sophie Henne, brotique (Stuttgart)
Günther Weber (formerly Loretto-Hof)
Freija Woitke & Korbinian Schuster, Brotraum (München)

> sign up here <
The event is fully booked. We have a waiting list.

Mills, farmers, bakeries – building regional value chains
08.06.2026, 11:00-17:00 Uhr
Lerchenbergmühle, Leipzig (Saxony)

The decline of small mills hits artisanal bakeries at its most sensitive point: the connection between field and dough. As regional mills disappear, flour diversity, control over milling, and the ability to handle variable flours are all diminished. For many bakeries, this means: more dependence on industrial products, less flexibility, higher risks. 

Lerchenbergmühle shows us what’s missing today, and what needs rebuilding: direct sourcing instead of commodity markets, transparency, milling adjustments for small operations, and real collaboration between farm, mill, and bakery. On a guided tour, Johanna Tschiersch explains to us how mills can function as critical infrastructure for a future-proof craft. Together with additional guests (tbd), we discuss how stable relationships are built and what alternatives exist when a local mill is already gone.

among others with
Johanna Tschiersch, Lerchenbergmühle (Jesewitz)
Brotklappe (Weimar)

> sign up here <

Education, career change, company succession – more hands for the craft
Berlin tba
September 2026

Artisanal bakeries urgently need new pathways to avoid losing ground to the industrial bread sector. Yet today’s traineeships models often no longer match real working conditions, traditional career paths are losing appeal and many aspiring founders face financial, organisational, and bureaucratic hurdles.

At the same time, many people want to enter the craft, often from other career paths, but struggle to find structures that really enable this. Between staffing shortages, lack of educational spaces, unclear succession and the demand for fair working conditions, pressure grows on both businesses and students.

To close the back.kulturen series, we take a concrete look into the future: What kind of education truly teaches a good baker? How do career changes succeed? And which places and networks help secure knowledge and the future of the craft?

location & guests tba

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Do you have more questions?