Cologne’s Imhoff Chocolate Museum (Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum) is located in the Rheinauhafen (Rheinau harbor) district and is made in the form of a ship to remind of the history of the place. Privately owned by the founding family Imhoff, the museum has nine exhibition areas located over 4000 square meters (43055 square feet) to give you an insight into the history and the production of chocolate.
The museum tells the story of chocolate making in Cologne and then moves on to tell how chocolate is made and where the ingredients come from.
The first part of the exhibition is not interactive and involves a lot of reading. But here is where you find a lot of informative displays about how chocolate is made, how it is harvested and then sent to various countries for processing and distribution.
As you progress through the museum, it becomes more interesting. You will see displays of old-style packaging and vending machines. Then you get to see examples of machinery from the Lindt production line in action.
The upstairs is a little Lind chocolate factory with chocolate made right before your eyes. And yes, there are small samples of the freshly made chocolate at the end to taste.
Interesting parts of the museum
- A tropical house. An enclosed area of rainforest where visitors can walk around in the humid warm climate of the tropics and there are more than 1000 plants to admire; palm trees, sugar canes, vanilla, and, of course, cacao trees.
- A huge chocolate fountain. The huge chocolate fountain has a friendly staff who will dip the wafers inside the chocolate for you.
- Create your own chocolate bar. If you are keen on customizing chocolate, you can easily fill up the order form and create your own flavored chocolate bar. Though, this area is the busiest part of the museum.
- The café. The café is where you can Indulge yourself after the tour sipping some hot thick chocolate or coffee, eating a most delicious chocolate cake, and admiring the river.
- The chocolate shop. The chocolate shop has so much to choose from more Lindt chocolate than you can imagine plus a who array of novelties. Everything you need to satisfy your sweet tooth and souvenir needs can be found here.
Admission prices and tickets can be found on the Viator website.
Please note:
- The museum is very busy all year round. During the busy months, weekends and holidays it is extremely overcrowded. Neither is it a good idea to visit it first thing in the morning as the schoolchildren are brought here to visit during that time.
- There’s always a long waiting line at the ticket counter.
- There are not many places to sit down. So be prepared to walk a lot.
- You need at least 2-3 hours to visit, see, and experience everything. So don’t plan to just “drop in” for 30 minutes or even an hour. It will be a waste of your money.