Europäisches Brotmuseum

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum goes back to a nonprofit association founded in 1970, backed by, among others, the district of Göttingen, what was then the Federal Institute for Cereal Research in Detmold, the Central Association of the German Bakers’ Trade, and the Göttingen bakers’ guild. It opened in Mollenfelde in 1971. Its core was the collection “Rund ums Brot” (All about bread) assembled by the Berlin master baker and bread historian Otto Kunkel, who also ran the museum; Detmold contributed items including a cabinet holding some 1,800 grain samples and a collection of breads.

After Kunkel’s death, his heirs terminated the lease in 1999, and part of the collection went to the bread museum in Ulm. The association then moved into the vacant Radolfshausen forestry office in Ebergötzen, a late Baroque building, and reopened there in September 2000 after conversion and renovation.

On about 500 square meters, the permanent exhibition “Vom Korn zum Brot” (From grain to bread) shows how farming, grain processing, and the baking trade developed from the first farmers of the Neolithic period to the modern era; temporary special exhibitions complement it. The outdoor area of about one hectare includes a grain garden, reconstructed ovens, and two relocated mills: a post windmill from 1812 from Hotteln near Hildesheim and a roughly 400-year-old watermill from the Gerlos Valley in Tyrol, which was rebuilt in Ebergötzen in 2004. Baking events are held regularly in the museum’s bakehouse.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition “Vom Korn zum Brot” (From grain to bread)
• Post windmill from 1812 from Hotteln
• Watermill from the Gerlos Valley in Tyrol (around 1600)
• Grain garden and historic bread ovens
• Baking events in the museum bakehouse

Permanent exhibitions

• Vom Korn zum Brot – The cultural history of bread on about 500 square meters in the former forestry office: from the first farmers of the Neolithic period through milling and baking technology to the baking trade of the modern era.
• Wind- und Wassermühle, Getreidegarten – Outdoor area with a restored post windmill from 1812, a Tyrolean watermill from around 1600, grain cultivation, and reconstructed bread ovens.

Founded

1970

Operated by

Europäisches Brotmuseum e. V.

Director

Agnieszka Steuerwald, Michaela Henning

Admission & discounts

The price list does not show any discounts for seniors, students, or people with disabilities.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Two accessible parking spaces at the Göttinger Straße entrance; the footpath from the visitor parking lot on Bergstraße (approx. 240 m), made step-free in 2022, is easy to navigate by wheelchair. Elevator in the museum building; the outdoor area is wheelchair-accessible except for the mills.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Kids’ birthday parties

Museum rallies for all ages from nursery to upper secondary school (ask at the ticket desk). Baking sessions (approx. 2 hours, from 15 participants), also for children’s birthday parties and family celebrations. Holiday programmes for children aged 6 to 12.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café

Right next to the museum is the independently run café “auszeit – das Café mit Herz” (Göttinger Straße 7c). Visitor parking lot on Bergstraße with 36 spaces, two of them for buses. Holiday programs for children.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit