BACH’S Bakery in Changsha, capital of Central China’s Hunan Province, ushered in a moment of leisure in the afternoon. The new manager Markus Hofmuller was in a heated discussion about the upcoming test of new bakers scheduled in a week. Yet the room is quiet, as most employees here are deaf and mute, and the manager is communicating in sign language. Bach’s Bakery, situated on a small lane in the city, was founded by a German couple Uwe Brutzer and Dorothee Brutzer. The couple came to Changsha in 2002 to work for a charitable project for deaf-mute children funded by a German non-governmental charitable organization. “It’s better to teach someone fishing than give them a fish,” the couple said. So, they turned their attention to German pastry, and in 2011, the “silent bakery” was born, opening its doors to provide the deaf-mute community with a new means of financial independence. “We named the shop after Johann Sebastian Bach, a well-known German composer. We hoped to make the best-baked goods, just like Bach composed the best music,” said Uwe Brutzer in a previous interview with Women of China. Over the past 11 years, Bach’s Bakery trained 25 hearing-impaired bakers, many of whom have graduated and pursued careers as bakers. Due to their old age, the couple chose to return to Germany late last year and published a shop transfer notice. A relay of love began. Hofmuller, 45, who is also a German, officially took over the bakery in May this year. Hofmuller has a doctorate in Sinology from Leipzig University in Germany, and his wife is from North China’s Tianjin Municipality. In 2019, the couple, along with their two daughters, settled down in Yinchuan, capital city of Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. When the notice was released, Hofmuller had just finished his teaching work at a primary school in Yinchuan. “I’ve always been more interested in food and crafts, and it made perfect sense to teach hearing-impaired people how to make bread,” he said. After getting in touch with Brutzer and traveling to Changsha for an on-site visit, Hofmuller decided to move to Changsha with his entire family in March. “As soon as I walked into the bakery, I was attracted by the warm, cozy atmosphere of the shop and decided to take it over,” he said. Hofmuller is learning to make pastries, run a store and communicate with his employees with sign language. “I’m actually the student, and even the two current apprentices came to the bakery before me,” Hofmuller said. The bakery will continue to hire and train deaf-mute bakers in order to provide them with new career opportunities. “We have to train a few new bakers every year, which I think is the core work of our shop,” said Hofmuller, noting that he considers himself a manager rather than the owner of the bakery. Bach’s Bakery has not expanded over the years, and Hofmuller intends to continue running the bakery in this current form. “Although it’s small, Bach’s Bakery is important to the local hearing-impaired community,” he said, adding that it also shows people the fact that hearing-impaired employees are focused, efficient and have great potential. “The shop brings more possibilities to people with hearing difficulties, and helps the society to better understand the disabled,” he added. (Xinhua) | 