Trude Herr and chocolate
She would certainly have changed her mind at the Chocolate Museum. Trude Herr and chocolate. Everyone likes chocolate. Don't we? After all, Woody Allen made a whole film about it. But, as we all know, tastes differ.
Stollwerck vending machines
Another piece of the Stollwerck family's history
The Stollwerck brothers apparently had the entrepreneurial ambition of their father in them. After his death, they took over the Stollwerck company in 1876 and developed it into the largest chocolate producer in Europe. They also invested extremely successfully in other sectors, including the vending machine industry. Find out more about Stollwerck vending machines in this article.
A groundbreaking sales idea!
Together with Johann Heinrich Volkmann, they founded the company "Volkmann, Stollwerck & Co." in New York in 1894 to manufacture vending machines.
The chocolate vending machines set up by Stollwerck proved to be extremely successful from as early as 1887. In 1893, around 15,000 vending machines sold Stollwerck chocolate, 4,000 of which were located in New York alone. The Stollwerck brothers recognized the potential of vending machines and so the company "Deutsche Automaten Gesellschaft" was founded in 1895 by Ludwig, the second youngest of the brothers. And then there were these vending machines with a built-in mirror - a rather ingenious move! Mirrors were not a matter of course in every household back then, and certainly not for the masses. They were more for the better-off. The reasoning behind this: Anyone who admired their reflection in a mirror might also reach for a bar of chocolate. A pretty sweet sales strategy, isn't it?
Some of the vending machines from the company founded by Ludwig Stollwerck can certainly be viewed in the German vending machine museum in Espelkamp. However, if you are also interested in the history of Stollwerck, its connection to the vending machine industry and would like a bit of chocolate and a coffee in the most beautiful location on the Rhine, you should visit the Chocolate Museum in Cologne.
The obvious connection between Stollwerck and vending machines can also be seen in the Cologne Chocolate Museum. The Stollwerck brothers had an eye for opportunities to develop the company and an advertisement from 1893 advertises the modern Stollwerck factory with "excellent technical and mechanical facilities".
If you want to marvel at former modern machines, historical innovations and even some vending machines, then you're sure to find what you're looking for in the exhibition at the Chocolate Museum. Come on over!
