Potato, Anyone? Visiting Thuringian Dumpling World, Germany

"Sie möchten einen Thüringer Kloß, ja?"

On this trip I was hosted by the German National Tourist Board.

I've long regretted not writing about my 2015 visit to Thuringian Dumpling World.

It seems unfair not to let the world know about this institution which pays tribute to the potato products of Thuringia, a state right in the centre of Germany.

The museum is located near Weimar, in the small town of Heichelheim.

It tells the story of the potato in Germany, with special mention of King Frederick the Great's 18th century promotion of its farming by the peasantry.

His enthusiasm for the new crop obviously succeeded, as anyone who's ever eaten a meal in Germany will have noticed.

Apparently, grateful Germans still place potatoes on the grave of the Prussian king at his grave in Potsdam. It's nice to be remembered for something that's given such pleasure, I guess. 

And Frederick the Great said, "Let there be dumplings,"
and there was a dumpling. A big one.

Thuringian dumplings are a big deal locally, and the museum explains how the local potato crop has been processed historically, via exhibitions of potato gathering machines, shredders and dumpling presses.

Preparing for a meeting of the
Heichelheim Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

More excitingly, visitors can take part in cooking classes, learning to make the perfect Thuringian dumpling.

Thuringian dumplings, meet pot.

Even more excitingly, once boiled you get to eat them (that part was really good).

Elke was annoyed that people criticised
her performance as wooden.

So now the secret is out - next time you're in Germany, potato lover, you know where to go. Maybe also make some time for the European Asparagus Museum in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria.

[And here's a past post about a pasta museum in Italy, and a salami museum in Hungary. Guten Appetit!]

The Thuringian Dumpling Museum is located at Hauptstrasse 3, Heichelheim, Germany. Find more information at its website (in German).