Kremnica gingerbread: the Haurík family bakery since 1922

Gingerbread of the golden town

Kremnica is an old mining town in the Kremnica Mountains where coins have been struck for more than six centuries. Wealthy towns like this always supported crafts tied to feasts and fairs, among them gingerbread making — baking the honey cakes Slovaks call medovník. Traditional fair gingerbread in the shape of hearts, horses or swaddled babies was given to sweethearts, brought home to children from the fair and hung on the Christmas tree.

The Haurík family story began in 1922, when Rudolf Haurík became a member of the Kremnica gingerbread makers’ guild. The craft passed from father to son: Rudolf, Jozef, Jozef and Martin — four generations sharing a surname and a profession. The family still keeps the grandfather’s trade licence for baking gingerbread and the father’s apprenticeship certificate. Today’s owner Jozef Haurík started with his wife in a tiny workshop beside the family house; now it is a modern family bakery with about ten staff, which his son Martin is gradually taking over.

How Kremnica gingerbread is made

The key is the dough, made to an old family recipe used for more than 30 years. It is kneaded several times and left to rest, then the shapes are cut out by hand, baked golden and decorated. The decorating is done by skilled women using white and coloured icing with natural colourings, so every piece is slightly different. All raw materials are bought in Slovakia. The bakery turns out around a thousand gingerbreads a day.

Why go

• Buy a real fair gingerbread. The company shop in the town centre sells decorated and filled medovníky, seasonal Christmas and Easter figures and gift sets.
• Sit in the café. The shop is combined with a confectioner’s café where you can enjoy sweets on the spot.
• Bake at home. For home bakers they sell ready gingerbread dough, pre-baked pieces to decorate yourself and honey sheets for layer cakes.

What to taste and buy

The classics are fair gingerbread with white patterns, filled gingerbread and honey sheets, plus the “oriental” sweets the family also makes. Before Christmas tree ornaments appear, before Easter eggs and bunnies. Part of the range can be ordered from the online shop, but fresh products are best bought on the spot. A decorated gingerbread in clear wrapping makes a good edible souvenir of the mountains: it is light, does not break in your luggage and travels well, and the fair-style pattern turns it into a small decorative gift as well.

Practical information

Address: Dolná 39/1, 967 01 Kremnica — Dolná street leads from the lower town up to the historic square. Kremnica is 35 km from Banská Bystrica and 20 km from Žiar nad Hronom; it has a railway station and bus links. It is a few minutes’ walk from the square along a level street, so it suits everyone.

Hours (as of October 2026, depending on season): Monday–Thursday and Sunday 9:00–17:00 (18:00 in summer), Friday–Saturday 9:00–18:00 (19:00). Phone +421 908 708 638, [email protected]. Before Christmas the bakery sometimes stops taking orders early, so arrange large orders in advance.

Nearby

• Holy Trinity Square and the town castle — the heart of medieval Kremnica with its plague column and castle complex.
• Kremnica Mint — one of the oldest continuously operating mints in the world.
• Krahule — a village above the town with the “centre of Europe” marker and the church of St John the Baptist.

Official website: kremnickemedovniky.sk

Photos: kremnickemedovniky.sk.