Bakery

Bread was vital to all Vilnius city dwellers in the 19th century; therefore, apart from small shops and home-made loaves of bread, Vilnius also had big bakeries and confectionaries.

In 1897, the nobleman Antanas Tiškevičius bought a steam mill on Šv. Stepono Street and started milling grain grown on his estate and making flour. Soon, a new steam bakery emerged nearby. Loaves of bread and bread rolls were made here for city dwellers. However, even though the workers endeavoured to keep the place clean, the Executive Sanitary Commission received a complaint that some Mr Fridliander found two pieces of glass the size of a 5-kopek coin in the biscuits he bought at Tiškevičius’ Bakery on Vokiečių Street.

The bakery also prepared and offered dough to other bakers. Thus in 1902, Tiškevičius had a bread trading chain consisting of 68 shops. All his bakeries were different from the traditional shops in the city; they all looked the same, were clean, painted white, and had semi-circular shop signs. Besides, Mr Tiškevičius owned a café with the best view in the city – at the beginning of the 20th century, you could enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and Tiškevičius’ bread rolls in the tower on Gediminas Hill and marvel at the view of the city from above.