100+ year old German wall oven?

[ShelbyH]

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right group of people but I'm hoping maybe I can get some information or someone can point me in the right direction.

My name is Shelby and I'm an American currently vacationing with my family in Berlin, Germany. Our vacation apartment has a huge wall oven in the master bedroom that I'm absolutely captivated by. I'm hoping someone can tell me a bit more about this gorgeous piece.

For background, we know this building was built sometime around the turn of the last century and the ground floor (currently our flat) was originally a bakery and bake shop. The oven is quite large, I'd estimate 9 or 10 feet square. It has multiple doors and such, and what I assume are gas lines. On the middle row of compartments the doors are stamped "R. Moritz/Berlin". The tilework is beautiful. Our landlady doesn't know anything more about the oven other than that it was once a bakery. I've tried various Google searches but am unable to come up with anything.

I would love to know, in particular, what each of these compartments was likely used for and anything else anyone could offer. I've attached the picture our landlady has used to advertise the apartment but I can take more pictures if people are interested. If you can't help, do you know anyone who could tell me more?

Thanks so much!!

[ATK406]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

That is spectacular. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to tell you much more about it. Please take some more pictures. If nothing else it might keep this thread alive long enough to catch the eye of somebody who might be able to help.

[Craig308]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

yes more pictures please looks interesting

[jeeppiper]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

Very cool!

[shuboyje]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

Very complicated oven. My guess is it is a coal fired white oven. Has similarities to another I've seen.

[v12spirit]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

Is it box shaped from the inside? How high is its ceiling? I saw ovens like that that are immense, deep, and shallow, and are dedicated for baking special kinds of French bread like Baguettes and Croustillantes. Croustillante is a French word that means crusty and this is what these ovens are all about. They cook the bread slowly (the cook takes 45 min) making a crust on the loafs from the outside while the bread remains tender from the inside. The result is bread with a protective crust that allows the bread to remain fresh for several days.
Am not sure your oven is the type of those ovens especially with too much compartments. My guess is that it is, and that the compartments may be there just to have multiple chambers with different temperatures that can cook different kinds of pastry at a time, each at its own proper cooking temperature. Moreover, Germans are inherently organized machine manufacturers, so It is not surprising to see their ovens look like a steam engine.
May you post some photos for the compartments from the inside? Is the oven Gas fired as you assumed?

[ShelbyH]

Re: 100+ year old German wall oven?

Thanks everyone!! I can't get my pictures to size properly on my tablet so I'm going to have to wait until I get home in a week or so to post more, but I've got several here. V12spirit, I think you're right on the money about different compartment cooking pastries at different temperatures. The compartments seem to vary in depth. The Germans are so precise, I'm sure this was a finely tuned instrument in its day!