A brief history of Pizza
The history of pizza is as rich and varied as the toppings that grace its surface today. While the pizza we know and love – with its signature base of yeast flatbread topped with tomatoes and cheese – originated in Naples, Italy, in the late 18th century, the concept of topping bread with various ingredients is an ancient practice that spans cultures and eras.
The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans had their pizza-like dishes versions. The Greeks, for example, baked flatbreads and topped them with oils, spices, and local flavors. The Romans had a dish called “panis focacius,” from which we get the term “focaccia.” This was a flatbread baked on a hearth – the literal translation of the word “focaccia”.
The pizza we know today, however, has its roots in Naples. The city was densely populated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and its working poor, or “lazzaroni,” needed cheap, easy-to-eat food. Street vendors sold these early pizzas made from simple, readily available ingredients: usually just dough, tomatoes, cheese, oil, and garlic or basil.
A particularly significant moment in pizza history was the creation of the Margherita pizza. In 1889, Raffaele Esposito, a baker from Naples, was asked to create a pizza for the visiting Queen Margherita. He topped the pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to represent the colors of the Italian flag. The Queen loved the pizza so much that it was named in her honor.
Pizza came to America with Italian immigrants in the late 19th century but didn’t gain widespread popularity until after World War II, when returning soldiers stationed in Italy craved the pizza they had enjoyed there. As the demand for pizza grew, so did the variations. From the deep-dish pizza of Chicago to the thin, crispy crust of New York-style pizza, the classic Italian dish evolved to suit local tastes and ingredients.
The first recorded instance of pizza being baked in Germany was during the 7th International Culinary Exhibition held in Frankfurt am Main in 1937. A few restaurants, mainly in Bavaria, began to serve the dish, although they were not pizzerias as we understand them today. After World War II, the first Italian immigrants and American soldiers introduced pizza to Germany, where it was initially sold mainly to Americans, as the local population could not afford this exotic dish1.
The first pizzeria in Germany, Sabbie di Capri, was founded by Nicolino di Camillo in Würzburg on March 24, 1952. At first, the pizzeria’s main customers were American soldiers because the local population couldn’t afford pizza, which was still relatively unknown. In order to gain popularity, they came up with the idea of having free pizza nights. This proved to be very successful and attracted many more customers. The pizzeria became especially popular with American soldiers from all the surrounding garrison towns to eat Nicolino’s pizzas. The restaurant is still in operation today, although the owners have changed several times1.
Today, pizza is popular worldwide, with countless regional variations reflecting local flavors and food traditions. Despite its global reach and endless versatility, the heart of pizza remains the same-a simple, satisfying flatbread that brings people together.