Even ginger, cardamom and cumin could no longer ward off the misfortune. After celebrity chef Alfons Schuhbeck filed for bankruptcy for his spice trade a few days ago, there was even concern in the Altötting Twitter community. It was accompanied by the anxious question how things are going with the Black Madonna Salt. The concern is justified, after all, it is a devotional hit that has boosted the popularity of the pilgrimage site Altötting to an impressive extent.
Spice master Schuhbeck, who knows very well how to pair religious facts with a shrewd business sense, had mixed the seasoning salt “Black Madonna” especially for Altötting needs and finely portioned it in 100 and 200 gram packs. Since the pilgrim customers at Kapellplatz always have the opportunity to have the goods blessed, the salt alone had to appear extremely effective in view of the healing power of the Black Madonna. It was not for nothing that Altötting rose to become the most popular place of pilgrimage in Germany thanks to Maria’s intercession.
Before the Schuhbeck era, the liaison between salt and Madonna was rather underdeveloped. In Altötting, the expectation of salvation concentrated more on the holy water. Nevertheless, the salt had the highest value, for example, it was the foundation of Munich 800 years ago. Heinrich the Lion had the Isar bridge belonging to the Prince-Bishop of Freising destroyed at Oberföhring in order to divert the salt trade route to his own bridge near Munich. Now the salt traders had to pay the customs duties to him instead of the Bishop of Freising. When Emperor Ludwig der Bayer granted Munich a salt monopoly in 1332, the city was quickly expanded, and the houses in which Schuhbeck’s herb world later flourished grew up.
In the Schuhbeck case, the Madonna was ultimately also helpless. A lot goes wrong with salt. Every kitchen worker knows that, who has never sugared a goose instead of salted it? For this clumsy clientele, the swear word Brezensoizer was invented, which blasphemers also shout out to those unlucky ones who can’t even keep a Madonna’s salt from slipping into the red.