Bratwurst Museum Mühlhausen

Germany's 1st Bratwurst Museum is the only museum in the world devoted exclusively to the bratwurst sausage. Since August 2023, it has occupied a 3.7-hectare site at the edge of Mühlhausen's municipal forest in Thuringia, having originally opened in Holzhausen near Arnstadt in 2006. Across 15 exhibition segments, everything here revolves around the history, tradition and culture of the bratwurst — with a particular focus on the Thuringian bratwurst, whose name is protected as a geographical indication. The museum is supported by the Friends of the Thuringian Bratwurst association and pairs genuine knowledge with a generous sense of humour, embodied by its mascot, the "Bratwurststiebitz" bird.

From the First Mention in 1404 to Modern Sausage-Making

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the documented first mention of the bratwurst on 20 January 1404, in an expense record from the Walpurgis convent in Arnstadt that lists a payment for sausage casings. This historical context is depicted on a large carved wooden relief. The exhibition also features a pig family tree tracing the evolution from wild boar to today's domestic breeds, as well as tools and machinery from several centuries charting the technical development of sausage production from pure handcraft to modern industrial methods. Interactive stations let visitors virtually grill or season their own bratwurst. Display boards and artefacts explore the bratwurst's place in art, culture and history around the globe.

Outdoor Grounds, Trabi Paradise and Events

The expansive outdoor grounds feature show gardens, enclosures with traditional Thuringian livestockbreeds and plenty of playful installations on the sausage theme. On the museum building's exterior wall, a 1,404-square-metre monumental panorama painting by Arnstadt artist Christoph Hodgson depicts Thuringian scenes. A rustic "Wursthaus" (sausage house) and outdoor dining area invite visitors to linger — the bratwurst grilled here is made to a traditional recipe by a small butcher in Mühlhausen. Since 2025, the grounds also house "Trabi Paradise", an exhibition dedicated to the legendary East German Trabant car. In the "Bratwurst Kitchen Experience", visitors can make their own Thuringian bratwurst under expert guidance and earn a bratwurst diploma. A year-round programme of events — from the spring festival and the "Bratwurstiade" to the bratwurst song contest and bratwurst theatre — draws visitors throughout the seasons.

Germany's 1st Bratwurst Museum was founded on 28 May 2006 in Holzhausen, a village near Arnstadt in the Ilm district of Thuringia. Owing to rapidly growing visitor numbers and poor transport links, the museum closed at that location in April 2019. A new site was chosen at the edge of Mühlhausen's municipal forest — four times the size of the old one. The foundation stone was symbolically laid on 20 January 2020, the anniversary of the bratwurst's first documented mention in 1404. Delays caused by waterlogged ground and the Covid-19 pandemic required an interim exhibition at the Mühlhäuser Hof hotel. On 16 August 2023, the new building with its exhibition and leisure park was officially inaugurated. Mühlhausen was chosen in part because it was from here that the first bratwurst export to America is said to have made its way.

By car

There are a few parking spaces right in front of the museum.

By public transportation

The “Mühlhausen, Weißes Haus” bus stop is served by Line 5 and is just under 200 meters from the museum.