The Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausern, Germany, has been housed in Emil Huober's original pretzel factory since 2016. Right before the entrance is a sculpture titled "Wheat Ear" by Paul Fuchs, whose double helix represents the pretzel form while the wheat highlights the village's agricultural past. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

The origins of the pretzel are as twisted as its signature knot.

Sonja Hart, director of the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany, described the conflicting creation stories that ignite debate over swaths of Europe during a recent tour.

The more widely accepted explanation credits Italian monks during the Middle Ages for inventing the pretzel. That’s in line with its roots in the Latin word “brachium,” or arm, before its evolution into the German “brezel” and its English equivalent.

The Alsace region of France also lays claim. And don’t forget the Bavarians as they, too, have their own origin story and would feel outraged to be overlooked, Hart warned.

The Swabian legend involves the baker Frieder from the town of Bad Urach, which isn’t far from this museum northeast of Stuttgart.

Museum director Sonja Hart demonstrates how to twist the knot for a pretzel using faux dough at the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany. Visitors wishing to bake actual pretzels must make an appointment ahead of time on a weekday for a cost of 50 euros per group. Other times with baking pretzels are on Jan. 6 and during the museum's ninth anniversary in July. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Pretzels came to symbolize bakeries, as shown in an exhibit at the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany. The center left shop sign depicts a "pretzel boy," or those at bakeries who would sell pretzels on the street. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

All I sought when I arrived was an ode to one of my favorite snacks. I ended up biting off more than I could chew, in a good way.

My love of the pretzel began at a young age, and thankfully, Germany is pretzel paradise. At bakeries I find myself buying regular pretzels, rolls or rods more often than the many, many other bread options available.

The Pretzel Museum is therefore a pilgrimage of sorts for me. It was difficult to see from the road, but a playground piece shaped like the pastry let me know I was in the right spot.

The museum is housed inside Emil Huober’s original pretzel factory, which opened in 1950 as the first in the Wuerttemberg region and lasted four years before the company needed a larger space.

The building was converted into a museum more than 60 years later during the village’s 1,200th anniversary in 2016.

The exhibits explain how the pretzel became not just a pastry, but also a symbol of the baking profession. A picture of a pretzel on a sign is all that’s needed to indicate a bakery.

Meanwhile, the debate on its form is equally as knotty as the claim on its creation.

Explanations point to it resembling either the shape of monks praying or the pose Frieder’s wife made watching him trying to save his life by creating a new pastry for a duke.

The Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany, houses the artworks of Juergen Roesner like these five. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

This exhibit at the Pretzel Museum shows an old bakery. Included are a scale to weigh the dough, how the dough looks rolled out, a bin to dip the pretzels into the lye solution, a baking rack to store the pretzels and the oven. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

These beer stein on display at the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany, belonged to bakers. The pretzel featured on both symbolized the baker's craft. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

But even the shape commonly thought of as a pretzel varies greatly in Germany.

The Baden and Swabian versions are cut on the belly to expose the inner layer, while the Bavarian crust is supposed to break in the oven. The Bavarians, meanwhile, make the dough evenly thick throughout so the arms are larger than their Baden and Swabian counterparts.

This painting from local artist Birgit Stengel hangs on the second floor of the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany. Stengel's work is inspired by her Swabian homeland and has 40 objects as part of a special exhibition at the Pretzel Museum. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

The entrance to the Pretzel Museum in Erdmannhausen, Germany, includes this preztel artwork hanging from the ceiling. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Along with such discourse and history, the museum has rooms full of pretzel-themed artwork. On the second floor is a special exhibition by local ceramic artist Birgit Stengel, nicknamed the “Pretzel Queen.”

The one thing I missed during my visit was a chance to bake pretzels. That isn’t an option during regular museum operating hours, which are on weekends, but for an additional fee weekday visitors can have that opportunity by making an appointment.

Or people can show up every year on Jan. 6 and during the museum’s anniversary events in early July.

Almost right after I left the museum, I was driving through the village of Steinheim an der Murr and saw the twisty telltale sign of a bakery.

I stopped and went inside, yielding to my desire for a pretzel — or two.

Pretzel Museum

Address: Badstrasse 8, Erdmannhausen, Germany

Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; tours, pretzel baking and children’s birthday parties are available during the week by appointment only.

Prices: 5 euros for adults, 3 euros for reduced categories and 12 euros for a family ticket. Baking opportunities cost 50 euros per group; tours cost 30 euros plus the price admission.

Information: Phone: +49 71448882526; Email: kontakt@brezelmuseum; Online: brezelmuseum.de