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In the 19th century, pretzel baking became an important trade in Burg. In 1843, 94 blanket and pretzel peddlers are recorded. The bakers had their goods carried in large baskets along the paths of the Bergisches Land by so-called Kiepenkerle, who sold them on the way. Their sales routes reached far beyond Burg.

In the Bergisches Land, especially in Solingen and along the streams around the Wupper, a special form of home and small-scale industry developed over centuries. The water-rich valleys supplied the power needed for the large grindstones. In the so-called grinding mills (Schleifkotten), the Schlieper (grinders) worked the blades delivered by the Schmetten (smithies).

At times there were up to 40 master pretzel bakers in Burg, plus journeymen and apprentices. The pretzel was not just food but a real branch of the local economy.

High above Unterburg and the Wupper, the Diederichstempel has stood since 1896. Its shape reminds the people of Burg of an old pepper pot – hence its affectionate name “Pfeffertürmchen” (little pepper tower). Its founder, August Diederichs, later had a second lookout temple built in Müngsten. Today both are among the most beautiful viewpoints in the Bergisches Land.

“Liëwermang” is Solingen dialect for delivery basket. The Liewerfrauen (delivery women) were part of the old cottage-industry system of the Solingen cutlery trade. They carried goods back and forth between the steelware factories and merchants’ offices and the remote grinding mills along the streams and the Wupper.