You want to make a family trip on the weekend so your kids get away from their smartphones and computers, but it’s raining so your options are restricted. You think something educative may also be good for your internet-addicted offspring, but the word “museum” is almost like a swear word to them. Here is your solution: the Chocolate Museum in Cologne.
After entering the museum through the very spacious and modern entrance hall, the first part of the museum is a small exhibition on the origin and history of chocolate. You are then guided through a tiny greenhouse so you can see (and feel) in what environment cacao beans grow. After that, you will find yourself in the main attraction of the museum – a big industrial hall with real production machines, where you see the steps of chocolate production from the raw product to wrapping up small chocolate pieces. All machines are actually running and it’s almost hypnotic to see the liquid chocolate being stirred…. The visit of the industry part of the museum is topped off with the chocolate fountain, where museum employees hand you a wafer with liquid chocolate (they don’t mind if you queue repeatedly) and a chocolate factory in the upper part of the hall where you can get your own chocolate bar created. There are also praline workshops offered in the chocolate factory, but you need to book them in advance.
You feel like this was not enough education for your children, well, you still have the upper floor of the museum left where you will find the history of chocolate in Germany, with old packaging and ads of German chocolate brands, an overview of ingredients in different chocolate types, and the very first “vending machines” for chocolate (seriously, some of them are really creepy!).
Now you have spent several hours finding your way through this big museum. You are exhausted, hungry and your little ones are complaining that they only got this tiny wafer from the chocolate fountain while they had to stare at chocolate pics all the time. No worry, the museum solves all your problems. Within the entrance hall, you will find A) a very nice café where they have a small variety of savoury food apart from the chocolate fondues, cakes, crèpes, hot chocolates and everything else the sweet tooth in you wants, and B) a Lindt chocolate store so you can take part of the experience home with you to go on enjoying in front of the TV.
