The History of
Döner

Who invented döner? Today, we can definitively say that döner, which is loved worldwide, was invented by the Turks. Although it is not possible to say exactly when and by whom it was first created, we can trace the history of döner back to the Seljuks.

One of the most important sources we have is Evliya Çelebi. Evliya Çelebi, during his visit to Crimea in the 1660s, cannot stop praising the taste of a type of kebab that resembles today’s cağ kebab. He mentions meat being placed on top of each other and cooked horizontally over a fire.

However, the main source related to döner is Takiyüddin Efendi (1521-1585), one of the famous astronomers and engineers of the Ottoman Empire. Takiyüddin Efendi, who was also the founder of the Istanbul Observatory, invented the vertically steam-powered rotating döner machine. A model of the döner turning device, inspired by Takiyüddin Efendi’s design, is exhibited at the Museum of Islamic Science and Technology History.

After the invention of the camera, the first photograph of döner was taken by James Robertson in İstanbul, in 1855. It is said that the person in this photo, considered to be the first photograph of a döner vendor, is Hamdi Usta, a döner vendor from Kastamonu.

By the 1980s, Bereket Döner, founded by Hayrettin Taşkıran, introduced the flavor of traditional Turkish döner to consumers with a modern production. Hayrettin Taşkıran, by establishing the world’s largest döner production facilities in Istanbul, both standardized the döner flavor to the highest levels and played a major role in popularizing döner and making it an industry by branding Bereket Döner first in Türkiye and then worldwide.

Today, Bereket Döner restaurants in many provinces of Türkiye are the number one destination for consumers who want to eat delicious, high-quality, and hygienic döner.