A hotel run by our great-grandparents, with a patisserie and a small Lebkuchen bakery, on Wiener Strasse in Mariazell. The first Lebkuchen recipes can be traced back as far as 1826.

The next generation, our grandparents Franz and Flora Kerner, open another patisserie with a Lebkuchen bakery on Wiener Neustädter Strasse. The first chocolate Lebkuchen hearts are produced, and supplied to a general store on Hauptplatz.

Waltraud Kerner marries Matthias Pirker, and together they expand the production of Lebkuchen with a new bakery on Grazer Strasse. The reputation of the delicacies they produce grows rapidly, and the first catalogue is printed. Mead, herbal bitters and a digestive cordial are added to the product range.

Production is expanded with a show bakery and an Austrian Art Nouveau café on Mariazell’s Hauptplatz. An additional shop is opened, as well as a small store next to the Basilica. The candle workshop is revived, and a new distillery is built.

Katharina Pirker and Georg Rippel-Pirker open a flagship store on Stephansplatz, making all of Pirker’s specialities available in Vienna, all year round.

At the former location of Café Stadt Wien, the erLebzelterei opens, with its large glass-fronted show bakery and Lebkuchen shop. Over more than 3,500 square metres, visitors can experience Lebkuchen production live and up-close, watching over the shoulders of our Lebkuchen bakers.

Pirker opens a shop stocking its delicacies in the city of Mozart, right next to the Church of St. Sebastian.

During Advent, Pirker Lebkuchen has seven Christmas market stalls in Mariazell, Vienna, and Graz.