Potato as a work of art – Munich’s Kartoffelmuseum

I can never resist a museum, the quirkier the better, so it will not come as a surprise that I headed straight for the  Ostbahnhof on my recent  visit to Munich because that’s where the Kartoffelmuseum is located. Not in the station, but close by and it’s easy to  find  your way from there.

I was intrigued, because I thought a potato is just a potato, what extraordinary things can there be related to one of our basic food stuffs that warrant an entire museum?  Let me tell you, after my visit I got an entire new appreciation of the humble plant.

Opened in 1996 by Konsul Otto Eckart, the quaint museum is the world’s only museum dedicated to the history and cultural background of the potato. There are other museums dedicated to the plant, but they are based on agricultural considerations rather than the ‘Art of Potato’ as this particular one is.

The Eckart family was the founder of ‘Pfanni’, the first company to produce dried potato powder which, with the addition of water, could be turned into mashed potatoes and other delicacies not to mention the Pfanni Knödel which is a household item for many Germans. The company was founded in 1949 and ready made potato products have come a long way since.

Konsul Eckart’s purpose when founding the museum was to set a monument to the humble and often despised plant by exhibiting a rich collection of painting, sculptures, books and other objects as well as documenting the potato’s history.

Mrs. Kosler, the museum’s curator is a knowledgable and very welcoming lady, who is happy to show her visitors around and to proudly explain that the has traveled extensively to conferences about the subject, recently as far as Vietnam.She has interesting stories to tell and even gave me a secret recipe for mashed potatoes, concocted by none other than Salvadore Dali! You’ll get the full benefit by making an appointment to visit the museum.

Apart from the well documented history of the potato what intrigued me most were a variety of objects either related to the potato or made from it. To mention just a few: carvings of faces by artist J. Braun which, during a drying process turn into fascinating and rather taunting masks, a potato telephone from Idaho and the potato alphabet by Bettina von Arnim.Numerous paintings add to the art collection and then there are exhibits which show the development from the original potato powder to modern day products.

But what impressed me most was the face carved from a potato which then shrinks naturally by drying out, ageing the depicted person in the process. You can have your very own Dorian Gray experience.

Potato sculpture before the shrinking

Andy Warhole prints are on display as well as ancient sculptures from the times of the Inkas of Peru where the potato originally comes from.

The eight rooms of the museum are arranged according to theme and you can feel the loving hand of a ‘potato enthusiast’ who has put this unique museum together.

Take a visual tour of the museum by clicking on this link and scrolling to the right.

The museum  is open Fridays from 9am to 6pm and Saturday from 11am to 5pm, otherwise by appointment. Admission is EUROS 3 pp.

After all that art and histroy, I went out and had a German speciality: Kartoffelpuffer with Apfelmus, which is a patty made from finely cut raw potatoes, fried in oil and served with sugar or apple sauce.

Tags: munich attractions, pfanni company germany, potato museum