Hamburgers originated from a dish known as Hamburg steak, which traces back to Hamburg, Germany in the 19th century. This dish consisted of minced beef, often seasoned and shaped into patties, but originally without bread. German immigrants brought this concept to the United States, where it evolved into the modern hamburger with beef patties served between slices of bread or buns by the late 19th to early 20th century, with multiple claims in the U.S. around the 1880s to early 1900s for who first served it as a sandwich. Key points about the hamburger's origin:
- Hamburg, Germany inspired the minced beef patty known as Hamburg steak.
- German immigrants in America popularized Hamburg steak in cities like New York and Chicago.
- The modern hamburger, a beef patty between bread, appeared as a convenient sandwich for workers.
- Several American claims for the invention of the hamburger sandwich include Charlie Nagreen in Wisconsin (1885), the Menches brothers in Hamburg, New York (1885), Louis Lassen in Connecticut (1900), and Oscar Weber Bilby in Oklahoma (1891) who is credited with the first ground beef on a bun.
- The hamburger was featured at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, solidifying its popularity in America.
Thus, the hamburger as we know it today is a product of cultural evolution starting from Hamburg, Germany, then adapted and popularized in the United States in the late 19th century.
