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Instead, what we know is that the kipfel, with its crescent shape, was popular in Vienna long before these legendary battles. And while Marie Antoinette's arrival in France might have ushered in some Viennese baking traditions, the true journey of the croissant began in earnest with the baker August Zang in the mid-19th century.

Zang: The Man Who Brought the Kipfel to Paris

August Zang, who traveled to Paris with the goal of elevating the city's bread quality, opened the Boulangerie Viennoise in 1838. His bakers crafted the kipfel now known as the croissant, which quickly won Parisian hearts. Interestingly, Zang's techniques, which included introducing steam-injected ovens, improved the quality of bread production and set the stage for the croissant's transformation.