What is the name of the Austrian ancestor of the croissant?

What is the name of the Austrian ancestor of the croissant? Kipferl. The kipferl is a traditional Austrian crescent-shaped bread roll widely regarded as an inspiration for the French croissant.

Kipferl is made from a relatively plain, yeast-based dough and is closer to a bread roll than to the flaky laminated pastry familiar today. It can be plain or prepared with additions such as nuts or other fillings. Its crescent form is the feature most clearly shared with the croissant.

The pastry’s Austrian history is older than the modern croissant. Kipferl has been documented in Austria for centuries, with references reaching back to at least 1227. In the 1830s, Austrian baking traditions were brought to Paris, where French bakers adapted them and eventually developed the laminated croissant.

The kipferl should not be confused with brioche, strudel, or bretzel. Those are distinct baked foods with different doughs and shapes. Stories claiming that kipferl was invented specifically to celebrate a victory over the Ottoman Empire are popular, but historians generally treat them as culinary legends rather than firmly documented history.