We went looking for the origins of this much-loved bread and discovered that two common myths surrounding its origins are deeply rooted in one very famous general . . . and his horse.
Theory: During the Napoleonic wars of the early 1800s, French troops barely had enough bread to stave off famine. But there was always enough pain (bread) for Napoleon’s horse Nicoll. Hence, pain pour (for) Nicoll . . . pumpernickel.
Theory: Another story goes that Napoleon didn’t save the bread for his horse but that he thought the dense, coarse bread the soldiers had to eat on the battlefield wasn’t fit for human consumption. Supposedly, on a military campaign in Eastern Europe, he discarded the bread, saying disdainfully that it was “pain pour Nicoll”—bread for Nicoll, his horse, meaning it was not good enough for humans to eat.
The truth: The term “pumpernickel” actually predates Napoleon by many years. The Germans were calling each other “pumpernickel” long before Napoleon was born. It was a derogatory term, similar to “jerk” in English. According to Webster’s Dictionary, they began using the term for bread around 1756. It came from two old German words: pumpern, which means “to break wind,” and nickel—“goblin” or “devil.” Basically, people called it the “devil’s fart” because the coarse, dark bread was so hard to digest.
The rumor: Adolf Hitler’s chestnut stallion is buried at Louisiana’s La Branche Plantation.
The evidence: There’s no definitive proof that Nordlicht (North Light)—born in Germany in 1941—belonged to Hitler, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty good. Nordlicht was was named Germany’s Horse of the Year in 1944 and even appeared on his own postage stamp. One of Hitler’s supporters abandoned the horse when he fled Germany in 1945, and the Americans took Nordlicht to the States with them. Louisiana doctor and horse breeder C. Walter Mattingly bought the horse in 1948 and moved him to La Branche. When Nordlicht died in 1968, he was buried at the plantation. Today, the owners of La Branche proudly profess the “grave of Hitler’s horse” as one of the plantation’s attractions.