The historians say, Spaetzle were first mentioned in 1725 for the first time. But what does not mean anything at all, because Spätzle, historically, is much, much longer, the solid foundation of the Swabian cuisine. This is illustrated by paintings from the Middle Ages, on which Swabians can be seen with spaetzleboard.
In fact, the time were hard and difficult for the population. For a long time, the Swabians belonged to the European poorhouse, and in the summer they even sent their children to work in the Alps to Italy.
Baden-Württemberg history books tell of Swabian knights, who were once followed by Emperor Barbarossa to the Holy Land, along with the sword and the spaetzle board. Even then it was probably impossible without the most important cooking utensils to go abroad. And even during the Russian campaign in 1821, the Württemberg regiments did not want to forgo their beloved Spätzle. They took everything they needed.
The one historian reports that the word "Spätzle" comes from the fact that the cook holds the dough like a sparrow in the hand before she spits with the other hand and a small spoon small dough pieces (ie small sparrows = Spätzle) and into boiling Water. Other historians represent another theory. Accordingly, the word origin in the Italian word "spezzato", which means "pieced".