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

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!

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!

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!

• 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.

• 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!

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!

Have you ever been to the Currywurst Museum?

What’s the strangest museum you have ever visited?