Chocolate time

A sweet smell hangs in the air early in the morning. The smell of chocolate. Because even before the first visitors enter the glass building in Cologne's Rheinau harbour, production at the Chocolate Museum is already in full swing. The viscous cocoa mass has to be stirred in the "conche" for three days before Aiga Müller and her colleagues can process it into chocolate bars, pralines and small figurines. "This is what makes the chocolate melt so smoothly," explains the Maître Chocolatier as she dips a small wafer into the chocolate fountain and gives it to us to try.

In the museum exhibition, other visitors have become aware of the slender woman in her typical work clothes. They listen with interest to her explanations about the origins of chocolate in Central and South America and then take a closer look at the clay cup with the image of a monkey. The vessel, dating from 850 AD, is one of the oldest surviving examples of the 5000-year history of cocoa, which can be seen in Cologne thanks to the passion for collecting of the manufacturer Hans Imhoff. The then owner of the Stollwerck factory fulfilled a long-cherished dream by building the museum. Since then, 14 million visitors have been interested in the modern production facility, the historical exhibits and the exotic plants in the tropical house. And the number is growing every day. Aiga has a simple explanation for this:

"Chocolate is a piece of happiness, just like this museum."

A smile crosses her face. And you can see that she is already looking forward to when it gets cold outside again and she whips up a hot chocolate. Sometimes with and sometimes without red wine.

But there are even more sweet temptations. In addition to guided tours and tastings with wine, whisky or craft beer, the Chocolate Museum also offers special courses in which participants can create their own delicacies in milk or dark chocolate. In the chocolate course, the chocolate expert also reveals the secret behind the exquisite mango-vanilla and cassis truffles. And she explains how to properly "make up" hollow figures. "It's more complicated than you think," she says as she demonstrates to the audience behind the glass wall how to turn the mould so that the chocolate is properly distributed.