Making a pretzel starts with a long thin rope of bread dough. The baker holds the two ends, swings them up, twists them once in the middle, and folds them back down to make the famous looped shape. A good baker can twist one in about three seconds.
What makes a German pretzel different from any other bread is the shiny dark-brown crust. Before they go in the oven, the pretzels are dipped quickly in a special hot liquid. That is what turns the crust deep brown and gives it that classic shiny look.
Pretzels come in many sizes. The little crunchy ones in shop packets are basically the same shape as the big soft ones from a bakery, just smaller and drier. A fresh bakery pretzel is soft inside, chewy on the outside, with crunchy salt on top.
Bakers in Germany are proud of their craft. Germany has more kinds of bread than any other country - around 3,000 different types are officially listed. Pretzels are just one of those. A normal German bakery might have dozens of different breads on the shelves every morning, from dark rye to seeded rolls.