The size of the pretzel is determined by the current year’s economic conditions! What this means: the cost for a pretzel in the local pubs remains the same from year to year. -- But if the previous year was economically productive, your pretzel will be larger. This was one of the VERY important facts that I learned while sipping "brewskies" with the locals at one of Heidelberg’s famous pubs in the Kornmarkt Plaza. Since the pubs are frequented by the University’s intellectuals-- (read that Students)-- Everything one hears in the pub must be true.... or at least must be considered.
We'd stopped at the "Hahn im Korb" (Chicken and Corn) Restaurant and Pub located at #8 Marksplats. It was a beautifully sunny day as we stretched out under the green umbrellas, ordered a couple of tall beers and began to check the menus. Lots of wursts, salads, sandwiches, eggs and chicken items listed along with the ever-present pretzels. Everything was reasonably priced and the service was good.
We ordered beers - VERY COLD, and VERY LARGE, along with pretzels and knockwurst sandwiches. Our beers were delivered and we'd just begun to talk with the 4 university students seated at the table next to us. We watched as a group of Japanese tourists with cameras in hand, snapped their way across the plaza. Suddenly a huge gust of wind swept across the plaza--tables toppled, green umbrellas hit the ground and the sound of breaking glass was everywhere.
The locals hardly seemed disturbed, in less than 30 seconds, our waitress slipped on a pair of rubber gloves, picked up the remains of about 12 tall beer glasses, deposited them neatly onto her tray and shuffeled them off to the trash bin. The students hurried to upright the tables and umbrellas, and in less than a minute our waitress returned with replacements for the spilled beers.
I was impressed by how quickly everything returned to normal. Everything was cleared and it was as if nothing had happened. I asked our waitress, "Does the wind gust like that very often?"-- She smiled and replied--"Not very often, only perhaps once or twice a week."