Potato Museum (Das Kartoffelmuseum)

POTATO MUSEUM:
One of only a handful of museums worldwide devoted to the humble spud, Das Kartoffelmuseum is a surprisingly good if quirky-as-heck find.

The museum is split into eight areas tracing the history of the potato from its origins in South America.



Spuds were brown gold to the Incas for a long time before King Frederick the Great of Prussia introduced them into Germany in the 1700s.

Marilyn Monroe is sadly little remembered
for her love of potatos.
@ Munich Potato Museum

The standout room has an exhibition called the “Multi-Talent Kartoffel” which bears witness to dozens of unexpected uses of the potato. The talented tuber is used in jelly babies, sausage, bread, wine, schnapps and soap, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Rounding off the museum is a gallery of art works connected to spuds.
Included, funnily enough, is a reproduction of a poster of Marilyn Monroe posing in the middle of a potato field wearing nothing but a skimpy dress made of burlap. The US potato state of Idaho engaged Marilyn for the ad. Ah, the stuff stars do to make a buck before they become famous!

The Details

Location Grafinger Strasse 2, 81671 Munich
Phone 089 404 050
Website www.kartoffelmuseum.de
Open Tuesday to Thursday only after arrangement, Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm, closed Sunday
Cost Free
Tours Available for €3 (€1.5 for children/concession)
Directions Take any S-Bahn or U-Bahn line 5 to Ostbahnhof. Exit on the south side, it’s a 5m walk past the Burger King to Grafinger Strasse.

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