A Look At How Berger Cookies Came About

As you enjoy your vanilla wafer topped with a thick layer of chocolate ganache, have you ever wondered where these Berger cookies come from. Believe it or not, the Berger cookie recipe has been around for almost two centuries. Tracing back its roots in 1835, brothers George and Henry Berger had traveled over to the US from Germany. While the former was a metal worker, the latter was a baker, but both had each opened their own bakery, and Henry also took over his father's bakery.

As the "open air" markets were popular in the late 1800s, each brother had their own stall in one of about five markets in the city. With the death of Otto, the brothers decided to combine their three bakeries, calling it "Bergers". With the dawn of automobile as transportation, the business could easily be expanded to the other markets in the city. Unfortunately, Henry passed away, leaving George as the sole proprietor of the business. One of his employees, Charles E. Russell, bought the bakery from George when he retired, and the business thrived. Eventually, he, too, retired, leaving the bakery to his son, Charles E. Russell, Jr. to look over the bakery operation. Despite the depression and the world wars, the bakeries prospered. His sons, Charles 3rd and Dennis, joined in the business later, as well as brothers Charles and Benjamin DeBaufre of which he employed. As Mr. Russell retired in 1967, his sons took over the bakery, while the DeBaufre brothers opened their own bakery, which is DeBaufre, Inc. Although it was difficult for that new company to survive for the first two years, they did gain enough profits to buy over the Berger's from the Russell brothers. Later in 1978, Charles' son, Charles, Jr., had bought part of the bakery, but a decade later, Charles, Sr. had passed away, leaving the bakery to both his sons, and John Koehler. In 1994, Benjamin retired, making Charles, Jr. the sole proprietor of Berger Cookies.

With the business being passed down from the original creators to people whom have grown with the business, the Berger cookie recipes maintains the same, with little adjustments to suit the changes in how raw ingredients were processed. As of today, the cookie is well recognizes in the Maryland region, with loyal customers everywhere whom enjoys the quality product which flavor and texture has lasted for almost two centuries.