The Viennese Me?

Regular reader and commenter Gerhard, sounding an awful lot like yours truly, writes in with this:

First, it’s Berliner, not Berlinen (you need an “r” at the end). Here in Vienna we call them Krapfen, and they are most popular between January and March (the Christian period of fasting). However it is possible to find Krapfen off-season. In-season, they’re just everywhere. It is said that they are named for a master cook by the name of Caecilia Krapfen who lived in Vienna in the 17th century. That probably isn’t true since Krapfen are mentioned in literature that dates to the 13th Century. Also, there were professional doughnut makers, “Krapfenpacherinnen” (“bakers of doughnuts”) as far back as the 15th Century. By the way, there are differences in Krapfen that go beyond names. A classic Viennese Krapfen has apricot jam filling, while a classic German Berliner has a red jam like strawberry or raspberry. In rural working-class areas like Tyrol, savory fillings are quite common.

Figures that I make typo’s even in German. As always, very informative. Thanks Gerhard!