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they remain exceptional to-
day “because they are Swiss, be-
cause they are from Zurich and
because they are from Parade-
platz”. The decision of company
founder David Sprüngli to buy
a large property on this site in
1859 is considered one of the
most important decisions in the
history of this successful fam-
ily company. For the Swiss, it
seems, those three rules still ap-
ply: location, location, location.
According to Zurich leg-
end, singles come to Sprüngli
on Saturdays in search of a
“good party”, mainly ladies
from Swiss high society. They
drop by on Saturdays as a
rule, after shopping in nearby
stores. They drink “gourmet
coffee”, Arabic, which Sprüngli
serves with a truffle, two mini
cakes and two mini macaroons,
known here as Luxemburgerli.
Sprüngli sweets and desserts
are extraordinary, delicate and
sophisticated.
To explain immediately,
Sprüngli is nowadays only asso-
ciated by name with the Lindt
brand of mass-produced Swiss
chocolate, which displays
the logo and emblem
Lindt
& Sprungli
on its products:
Sprüngli was founded in 1836
and two brothers split into
two companies after they
bought Lindt in 1899. So, for
115 years they have been two
separate firms, but Lindt does
not relinquish the respected,
older name.
For the past twenty years
Sprüngli has been run, for the
first time in history, by two
brothers - Tomas and Milan
Prenosil – who may not carry
the Sprüngli surname, but still
consider themselves part of the
family. The last Sprüngli, Rich-
ard, who died a very old man
last year, left the management
of the company to the neph-
ews of his Czech wife, exactly
twenty years ago.
Milan, member of the board
of directors responsible for pub-
lic relations, does not consider
their Czech origins a problem
in the still closed Swiss society:
“My brother and I have lived in
Switzerland for more than 45
years and we grew up with this
company. Our uncle Richard
Sprüngli was an outstanding
teacher and mentor. We are a
Swiss men with Czech roots. ”
Richard Sprüngli did a lot
for the company, which almost
hides how big it is and insists
that they are only master con-
fectioners where everything is
still done by hand. The advert
in Swiss newspapers for their
macaroons states: “We make so
many every day, and still only
by hand!”
Macaroons are small
round cakes of an irresist-
ible pastel beige, which were
celebrated en masse by Sofia
Coppola when she put them
on trays on the tables of Marie
Antoinette in her film. In
Zurich they are called Luxem-
burgerli, because they were
made for Richard Sprüngli in
the late 1950s by a pastry chef
originally from Luxembourg.
In 2007, with great fanfare,
the company celebrated the
50
th
anniversary of this most
important Sprüngli product.
Perhaps Parisian macaroons
are more famous worldwide,
which Milan admits are an
“excellent product, though
they have conquered their
niche, while we have ours and
Luxemburgerli are considered
unique”. Luxemburgerli are
Tradicija i kvalitet,
kao i kod satova, ma
koliko bili skupi, uvek
nađu kupca.
e
For tradition and
quality, just like with
watches, there will
always be a buyer, no
matter how expensive.
Milan Prenosil kaže da su ponosni
što šesta generacija u porodici
vodi firmu
e
Milan Prenosil says they are
proud that the family has run the
company for six generations
