Cologne (Koln) in Germany is a place that I visited quite often for concerts. However, despite the constant visits, I would find myself moving around in a small circles around the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), hotel and the Concert Hall. Thus, I didn't really have much of a desire or opportunity to visit the various attractions that this city had to offer.
However, one winter recently past, I came back to visit Cologne with my family. When you are visiting with family (especially with little children), your priorities are quite different... and you actually have a bit of a desire to see all the attractions. Well, the alternative is to be locked in a BnB with a cranky wife and increasingly agitated children! Work trips are much more lonely and yet relaxing in a "claim your own time" sort of way!
Finding things that are interesting to both adults and also children (under 10s) is always going to be a tricky thing to do. Even worse is the fact that my wife and I have different tastes in what we consider "fun" to visit, and my children are separated by almost 5 years (which is quite a large gap when you are that young).
One thing that we all do agree on is that chocolate is worth seeing and tasting... and in our visits to various places around Europe and Australia as a family, we have managed to visit quite a number of Chocolate Museums! In fact, we are starting to become quite the connoisseurs of chocolate in all its varied forms and national styles!
The Chocolate Museum in Cologne (also known as the Lindt Museum) is a large building that is dedicated to the Lindt story as well as a bit of the historical and production overview of chocolate. In the lobby, it also shares a large space with a huge gift store where you can buy everything that is chocolate themed (including cocoa flavoured beer!) as well as a large Chocolate themed restaurant (with more chocolate than you would ever think imaginable!).... but those are a story for a different day!
On the ground floor, there is a small (in comparison to the building!) tropical greenhouse which shows of some of the cocoa plants and various other greenery that would exist in the natural habitat. When you visit in the wintertime, it is such a huge difference to the outside temperature and humidity. For me, my glasses were fogged up for quite some time before I could see anything! But it is definitely worth a visit, there quite a number of astonishingly weird plants, plus it is a perfect way to warm up from the snow outside!
Something that you are going to see quite a lot of in the museum on all the walls and in various glass cabinets are the historical molds that they have used for chocolate pieces. Sometimes, these will be a single (or short run) use mold for a really special occasion or they might have been a mold that was used for a particular popular shape. With all of them, it is quite stunning the artistry that goes into making the metal molds, the detail and tolerance required so that the same level of detail and artistry is transferred to the chocolate itself!
Also, it sort of answered my often unspoken question of how the various shapes of chocolate figurines were made! In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense!
Also on the ground level is the children's educational centre, where there are various little interesting tidbits and games for the kids to learn about the production and history of chocolate. It is a much more hands on area than the parts that would follow later on. It is also a bit of a bottleneck, as it is the first area that most of the public will step into... in many ways, it isn't really that interesting and children are usually having to wait in line (or not...) for something to do. I'm afraid that the interactive elements in this section weren't really that interesting to kids of our age (under 10), they are more geared to something like a educational school trip rather than a casual family visit.
Of course, the excitement starts to grow when you reach the production level of the museum. Yes, the museum is actually also a functional chocolate factory! I'm not sure if it is a bit less efficient due to all the visitors, but it is still really interesting to see how all the various molds are poured and how the chocolate is mixed and all of that.
That said, it is much less Willy Wonka and a tad more professional looking. All the workers are hair-netted and gloved, with screens separating them from their gawking audience. It must be the weirdest thing to be working behind the screens, always on display... I do wonder if they enjoy that much insight and exposure into their daily work life... I know that I wouldn't!
The tasting area is dominated by this gigantic chocolate fountain... it is a pretty impressive sight, but I do pity the poor person who has to clean it!
Here are photos of some of the artisinal molds that were either made for artistic purposes or for limited (possibly once off) runs. The level of detail that has gone into these molds is several orders of magnitude higher than the ones that I had showed before. With some of the more intricate designs, there also a degree of carving included as well, similar to the way that ice sculptures are made.
These designs are so intricate and beautiful, it would be a pity to eat them... but they can't possibly last forever, so I wonder if the factory workers have a moment when they dismantle one in private away from the public and just go Philistine and pig themselves out! Pure Decadence!
For those who are interested (or even just marginally curious), there is also a proper sort of adult version of a chocolate museum. It is quite an interesting trip into the history of chocolate, from its ancient roots through to the European (re)-discovery of the properties of the cocoa plant through the popularisation of the chocolate bar in Europe over the last couple of centuries.
Don't expect anything phenomenally even-handed about the historical narrative though... it is definitely the story of chocolate from a distinctly European perspective! Still, it is interesting for all those little interesting anecdotes and tidbits which can serve as the seeds for further investigation for those who are curious...
When you are done at this top level, there is an easy elevator back down the ground floor... where you can browse the various chocolate themed wares at the shop (a touch overpriced, but OH SO WORTH IT!) and then follow up with a well deserved afternoon snack (or late lunch or early dinner) at the Chocolate cafe downstairs. I highly recommend the Chocolate fondue! So many lovely things to dip in some really great fresh chocolate.... although, if you are more keen on cake and pastries, there are those in abundance as well!
So, if you ever find yourself in Koln (Cologne)... I would say that you definitely have to give this place a visit! An easy public transport trip away from the Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), there is really no excuse to miss this one... and it is most definitely a place that you will want to visit if you have kids!