Welcome to the Coffee Grinder Museum in Wiernsheim. Perhaps you’re familiar with the melody we’re playing to welcome you. It’s an German folksong from the 1820s that is linked to our museum. We’ll let you into the secret:
"Once upon a time, Kasperle's grandmother was sitting in the sun, on the bench in front of her cottage and grinding coffee".....
... the beginning of a children's book called "The Robber Hotzenplotz" by the author Otfried Preussler. And whenever granny was grinding coffee in her coffee grinder, it played a melody:
“Alles neu macht der Mai”.
Sadly, you’re not going to find the musical coffee grinder cherished by Kasperle's granny in our Museum of Coffee Grinders. But you will discover more than a thousand coffee mills from all over the world, most of them made in the 19th century.
The Museum of Coffee Grinders was opened in 2011. Three years earlier, in 2008, the municipality of Wiernsheim had purchased the local vicarage, built in 1711. The plan was always was to exhibit the collection of coffee grinders amassed by Rolf Scheuermann and donated to Wiernsheim. With financial support from the state of Baden-Württemberg and the German government, the building was remodelled with due respect for its listed status.
At this point, you must be wondering who Rolf Scheuermann was, and what he had to do with coffee grinders. You’re going to find out at the next stop on your tour.
All depictions: © Kaffeemühlenmuseum Wiernsheim
