A partial promoter region of the high-molecular weight (HMW) glutenin genes was studied in two wheat specimens, a 300 year-old spelt ( Triticum spelta L.) and an approximately 250 year-old bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) from Switzerland. Sequences were compared to a recent Swiss landrace T. spelta'Oberkulmer.' The alleles from the historical bread wheat were most similar to those of modern T. aestivumcultivars, whereas in the historical and the recent spelt specific alleles were detected. Pairwise genetic distances up to 0.03 within 200 bp from the HMW Glu-A1-2, Glu-B1-1 and Glu-B1-2 alleles in spelt to the most-similar alleles from bread wheat suggest a polyphyletic origin. The spelt Glu-B1-1 allele, which was unlike the corresponding alleles in bread wheat, was closer related to an allele found in tetraploid wheat cultivars. The results are discussed in context of the origin of European spelt.