Beelitz Asparagus Museum
The Beelitz Asparagus Museum in the eponymous town of Beelitz in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district in the state of Brandenburg provides information about the botany of asparagus , its cultivation, its history and the people associated with it. It is located in the historic old town of Beelitz on Mauerstrasse.
The association “Beelitzer Spargel” e. V. has built the only asparagus museum in northern Germany in Beelitz. In the old town of Beelitz, in the historic coach house in Mauerstraße, directly behind the courtyard of the Alte Posthalterei, you can immerse yourself in the history of the noble vegetables from Nieplitz. The collection, which is constantly being expanded, pays tribute to asparagus as a source and object of pleasure and purchase. It provides information about the botany of the plant, the technology and the history of Beelitz asparagus cultivation, aspects of general cultural and art history as well as medicine in connection with asparagus and the way of life of people associated with asparagus. It also shows the economic importance of asparagus for the region and presents the tourism project “Beelitz Asparagus Road”. The reproduced photographs that citizens made available often evoke family memories in local viewers. The loans, including valuable cutlery and dishes, refer to the names of the numerous donors. The presentation of the museum testifies to the triumphant advance of asparagus, the asparagus, which began 2500 years ago and which also led to Beelitz. Asparagus is almost reverently referred to as “king vegetables”, “edible ivory”, “flatterers” or “spring air in sticks”. It served and still serves as a motif for painters, it inspired goldsmiths, porcelain manufacturers, poets, is the subject of scientific research, and even had cultic significance. The museum exhibition deliberately follows traces of the everyday culture of people, whose livelihoods were largely determined by asparagus. In 1861 the arable citizen of Beelitz, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Herrmann, cultivated the first asparagus in the field. Gradually other Beelitzers followed his example. The Berlin market was just around the corner; after the turn of the century, surpluses could also be shipped abroad. In the twenties and thirties, Beelitz was the undisputed asparagus center in the Brandenburg region with an area of 625 hectares. That’s the area around Beelitz again today. Asparagus is grown and harvested on approx. 830 hectares today. The museum is particularly worth visiting during the season. Interesting small dishes made from fresh green asparagus are also offered on the weekends. The new exhibition room provides insights into the processing and storage of white and green asparagus and, as a specialty, offers fresh Beelitz green asparagus for sale. Guided tours through asparagus plants are also possible.