Familienstammbaum Knol » Quellen » Knol's Koek, Egge Knol

For centuries, a well-filled cake has been made in Groningen that is known far beyond the region. The cake is a proprietary variant of Deventer cake. From 1640 the biscuit bakers in Groningen united in their own guild with the beehive as the blazon and St. Nicholas as the patron.

After the abolition of the guilds in 1795, bread bakers were also allowed to make biscuits. Many went to bake cakes. A number of companies have become known with their cake in the past two centuries, such as Meijer's cake at the Tusschen both Markten or Foppe de Haan at the Apoort, and later Klaassens Koek at the Herestraat.

Knol's Koek has been known since the 1950s. However, the company is much older. In 1923, founder Egge Knol bought a bakery on the Zuiderdiep from baker Bosman, who previously took over the company from baker Afman.

Knol had a complete bakery with bread, rusks, rye bread, biscuits and pastries, following his predecessor, specializing in Genuine German bread . After the Second World War there was no interest in that.

From the fifties, Knol, now with his son Durandus, started to focus more on cake. This has been the only product since the late 1960s. Durandus Knol was then director of the Fa. E. Knol & son. Egge Knol had died in the meantime.

In 1982 Edwin Knol, son of Durandus, entered the business as a third generation. He succeeded his father as director in 1986. Under his leadership, the company grew out of one of the most famous biscuit names in the city of Groningen. Groningen cake had meanwhile grown from a local delicacy to one of the icons of the Groningen identity, together with the Martini Tower.

In 1958 the bakery was moved to a former laundry on the Hoendiep, but the business on the Zuiderdiep remained in use as a shop. Initially, this house had looked just like both neighboring buildings, but in 1937 the shop and upstairs apartment were radically renovated under the architecture of Harm Eltje Nienhuis from Uithuizermeeden. In 1962 the store was enlarged internally. In 1988, the municipality of Groningen declared the building with its facade in Amsterdam school style a municipal monument of young architecture.

Text: Dr Egge Knol curator Groninger Museum