Berlin’s Currywurst Museum: Strange but it’s all about the Sausage!

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Over the past few weeks I’ve discovered that Berlin is home to a whole lot of museums, however, the Deutsches Currywurst Museum takes the prize for being the quirkiest! I mean, an entire museum dedicated to one type of sausage – who came up with this idea?!

For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the Currywurst, this is a dish that first appeared in Berlin in 1949 and has since become the city’s staple fast food snack. The Currywurst consists of a sausage (wurst) that has been steamed and then fried. It is then sliced up, served with a curry-ketchup concoction, and sprinkled with more curry powder overtop.

Some people hate the dish, others love it; I’m in the latter category. Over the course of my stay in Berlin I ate a lot of Currywurst. I ordered from street stands and in restaurants, ate it in a bread roll and with a side of pommes frites, with spicy sauce and with sweet ketchup, with skin and without. You could say I became a bit of a Currywurst connoisseur, which is why I simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit this museum!

Ketchup drops inside the Currywurst Museum in Berlin, Germany

So who invented this dish?

The woman attributed for coming up with this strange dish is Herta Heuwer. It was 1949, just after the Second World War and food supplies were limited.

The tale goes that on a rainy September day, business was slower than usual and Herta had some free time on her hands. She got a little creative with the plain ol’ can of tomato paste, added about 10-12 different spices, saw that it tasted good, poured this over a fried sausage, and thus the Currywurst was born!

Berlin's Currywurst Museum in Berlin, Germany

So what exactly do you do inside the Currywurst Museum?

The museum is divided up into different sections which cover different aspects of the sausage – from its creation to its role in pop culture, you will learn a whole lot about Berlin’s beloved snack!

Here’s a brief overview of what you can expect from the Deutsches Currywurst Museum:

  • Stop at the Currywurst Ticker where you can see how many Currywursts are consumed each year. A lot!
  • Wander over to the singing ketchup bottles, where you can listen to funny songs about Currywurst.
  • Learn where Berlin’s most famous Currywurst stands are located so that you can track them down on your own when you’re hungry.
  • Study the world map which highlights some unique destinations around the world where you can find Currywurst – Bali, Tokyo, and even Vancouver are on the list!

The sausage sofa inside Berlin's Currywurst Museum in Germany

  • Take a seat on a sofa shaped like a…sausage.
  • Head over to the spice cabinet where you can sniff (and guess) which spices are used in Currywurst.
  • Have a look inside a Currywurst stand where you can see how street vendors prepare this popular snack.
  • Pick up a giant French Fry and battle it out with your partner to see who’s the last one standing.

Giant french fries inside the Currywurst Museum in Berlin, Germany

  • Take a seat in the cinema and watch a documentary titled “The Best of the Wurst” by Grace Lee. It’s about a journey to Berlin in search of Currywurst.
  • Walk over to the TV Wall where you can watch movie and TV excerpts about Currywurst.
  • Share your own Currywurst anecdote in the Visitor’s Book.
  • Eat some Currywurst! The best part is that at the end of the visit you get to sample the famed sausage. A museum that feeds you? I’m in!

Eating Currywurst, because when in Berlin...

If you find yourself in Berlin with some free time on your hands – and if you haven’t yet tried a Currywurst! – then this is a fun place to swing by.

Getting there:

The Deutsches Currywurst Museum is located at Schützenstrasse 70, just 100 metres from Checkpoint Charlie. Take the U-bahn to either Stadtmitte or Kockstrasse, and walk towards Schützenstrasse from there.

Admission is 11€ and includes a Currywurst in a cup at the end of your visit, or you can pay 13,90 € and sample 3 different varieties of Currywurst. Keep in mind that you can save 20% if you visit on a Monday.

The museum is opened daily (unless otherwise noted) between 10 am – 8 pm.

Enjoy!

Getting to the Currywurst Museum

Have you ever been to the Currywurst Museum?

What’s the strangest museum you have ever visited in Berlin?

Join the Conversation

32 Comments

  1. says: Ivana

    That’s funny and really crazy that they built a whole museum dedicated to a wurst! We were living in Frankfurt for three years and had loads of them: steamed, fried, whole, cut, spicy, curry….The best snack-lunch-dinner-bbq stuff you can get in Germany! For me personally, one of the best museum I’ve been was Franz Kafka’s one in Prague!

    1. says: Audrey

      Thanks for the tip on the Franz Kafka Museum, Ivana! I’ll be sure to check that one out when I swing through Prague. I’ve also heard good things about the Alfons Mucha Museum there – I love Art Nouveau, so that’s another must for me!

  2. says: Alana

    I LOOOOVE German food. I never got around to visiting the Currywurst Museum – I’ll definitely have to the next time I go to Germany.

    1. says: Audrey

      The food was great! I ate so much Spaetzle, Schnitzel, and Wurst while I was there. I get hungry just thinking about it. 🙂

  3. says: Amanda Kendle

    So fabulous!
    Have you read the novel they refer to in one of your pictures – set in Hamburg – can’t remember the title but something like the history of the currywurst? It is a gorgeous novel, thoroughly recommended.

    1. says: Audrey

      No, I haven’t read it yet. May add that one to my Kindle once I get through the ones I’m reading at the moment. 😉

  4. says: Vid

    Hmmmm. We didn’t really like the taste of currywurst when we were in Berlin. The normal one was much better 😉

    I would like to meet Herta Heuwer and pick her brains as to what she was thinking haha !

  5. says: Shing

    Hah! Wish I had known about this sooner! I guess Berlin is saturated with museums so I’ll forgive myself (as much as I love all the art museums doesn’t the Currywurst Museum make a fun contrast?! :)) I’ve been to quite of lot of museums which are considered strange, but I don’t think none quite so as the Phallological Museum in Reykjavik, and the Hunterian Museum in London is full of curiosities (anything dead and preserved in a jar, I’m there).

    1. says: Audrey

      It’s funny how easy it is to miss out on museums even after multiple visits to a city. I’ve been to London at least 4 times now, and I had never heard of the Hunterian Museum until you mentioned it. I guess it’s quite niche so it doesn’t appeal to as many travellers – sounds spooky! 😉

  6. says: Jessica of Curiosity Travels

    What a quirky museum! I´m going to Berlin next fall or spring and eating currywurst is defintely on my list!

  7. says: Cathy Sweeney

    I’m a big fan of quirky museums and this fits my criteria perfectly. After all, I’ve been to the Spam (as in Hormel canned ham) musem, so I should give equal time to currywurst. Fun post.

  8. says: Rebecca

    I wish I had of known about this place when I was in Berlin. Berlin is such a great city – they sure love the Currywurst over there

  9. says: shikha (whywasteannualleave)

    This sounds so fun & quirky! I had really enjoyed the chocolate museum in Cologne & am actually thinking of visiting Berlin soon so will definitely keep this in mind!

  10. Yum! I love how they made a museum about such a unique topic! What a fun way to teach travelers about the culture. I hope to have the chance to experience Berlin in person.I do not think I would have heard about this museum if I had not see this, so I am glad that I did! Thank you for sharing!

  11. says: Daryl

    I have been to Berlin a handful of time but I did not know it had a CURRYWURST MUSEUM?!?!?!?!?

    I am married to a German and lived in Frankfurt for 2+ years, and Currywurst is by far what my husband misses the most about his homeland. (LOL.) I try to make it for him here by mixing curry powder and ketchup but he says it’s just not the same. #ohmyheart.

    <3 Daryl
    Unlost
    Current Post: Foodie Travel – Let’s Talk About Buffalo Wings.

  12. says: Robert Bruce

    My Grandfather was an avid hotdog, sausage and kielbasa connoisseur. Nothing like a plate of meat stuffed into intestinal casing accompanied by a dark mustard and an ice cold brew on a summer afternoon watching Major League Baseball. Thanks, Grandpa!

  13. says: Vanessa @ Green Global Travel

    The museum looks like a lot of fun and really interactive! I love all the sausage in Germany too, including currywurst! I also never loved mayonnaise before until I went to Germany. Those recipes need to get back here!

  14. says: Stephen

    Can’t believe there is a whole museum dedicated to currywurst! Well-deserved, because it is so good! It’s the first thing I go for when returning to Germany.

  15. says: Matt

    This is really one of the strangest little museums in Berlin. Although actually quite fascinating. Beyond the bit where you get to pose as a sausage seller, and of course the free samples at the end.

    Make sure to check out the huge map they have plotting out the ‘authentic’ Currywurst places throughout the city if you’re looking to take your stomach on the road.

  16. says: Carolin

    The Currywurst Museum is unfortunately closed in the meantime. But you do not have to despair, about the invention of curry sausages there are now many articles. If you can’t try the cult sausages in the capital, you can have them sent to Berlin – in a jar. This is offered by various snack bars. But I would only order from those who also have a stand (like Curry Wolf at the Brandenburg Gate https://curry-wolf.de/), instead of anonymous online providers. Currywurst in a jar is also a cool gift idea for currywurst fans.

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