Chocolate Lovers, please take note. This is a destination that you would like to put on your bucket list. The recently inaugurated Lindt Home of Chocolate offers you a chance to go on a magical journey into the world of chocolate …
The Lindt Home of Chocolate opened its doors in 2020. (Lindt&Sprüngli/Michel Jaussi)
How many of you have watched Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and have imagined yourself winning the Golden Ticket to visit the marvellous land? We have and while the Golden Ticket to the fictional land (is it, though?) remains elusive, we can still set our sights on visiting a more accessible one here in the real world! The recently inaugurated Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg, Switzerland offers chocolate lovers and connoisseurs a peek into the world of chocolate and more. One of the main projects of the Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation, the museum offers a comprehensive and entertaining platform for visitors to understand and learn about Switzerland and its role as leading chocolate-producing country.
Multi-Functional Elegance
Completed in a record time of jut 36 months, the excavation work on the site began in early 2017 with a total of 133,590 tonnes of earth removed to create a building pit the size of a football field. The foundation stone was laid in later in 2017 and the Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation building was ready in 2019 after which the architects took over to create a building that reflects multi-functional elegance at its very best. An architecture lover’s delight, The Lindt Home of Chocolate owes its impressive structure to Basel architects Christ & Gantenbein, who have created a functional space that beautifully blends into its current surroundings, while complementing the historic Lindt & Sprüngli factory that dates back to 1899. The interiors are as distinctively designed with rounded staircases, bridged walkways and imposing skylights to create refined elegance in every nook and corner of this structure.
The highlight of the Lindt Home of Chocolate – the over 9m high chocolate fountain (Lindt&Sprüngli)
Piece de Resistance
The highlight, the centrepiece, of this institution lies in entrance hall, unveiled by another icon, tennis star and brand ambassador Roger Federer, Swiss Federal Council’s Ueli Maurer and President of the Foundation’s Board Ernst Tanner. There is no escaping the brilliance of 9-metre-high spectacular chocolate foundation that towers over you as you enter the building. Arguably, the most impressive chocolate fountain in the world, this seemingly weightless construction holds 1,500 kg of real chocolate and is the perfect start to the incomparable experience at the Lindt Home of Chocolate.
For Experts & Fans Alike
Home of some of the most well-known Master Chocolatiers, the Lindt Home of Chocolate offers you a truly immersive experience into the fantastical world of this much-loved sweet treat. The Lindt Home of Chocolate also features a 1500 square metre exhibition that takes visitors on a journey into the world of chocolate. First stop on this journey is a cocoa plantation in Ghana. Chocolate fans can travel along a timeline of chocolate history and follow in the footsteps of the Swiss pioneers. The exhibition also provides a glimpse into some of the secrets of chocolate production. Visitors also get to sample some delicious masterpieces in the tasting room. The research plant with open-view production line, also appeals to professionals, as it combines flexibility and functionality to offer an ideal platform for to chocolate producers and research institutes as well as universities. There is also a Chocolateria for courses in chocolate making, all of which are operated by the subsidiary Lindt & Sprüngli Schweiz AG.
The Lindt Home of Chocolate includes not only a research facility with show production but also a 1,500 sim exhibition (Lindt&Sprüngli)
Finally, what is the Home of Chocolate without a chocolate shop and this one houses the world’s largest Lindt Chocolate Shop, Switzerland’s very first Lindt Café for you to enjoy and take back some of the world’s finest treats.
While, we cannot promise you will run into the Oompa Loompas, we can assure you that the Lindt Home of Chocolate offers you a fantastical journey into the world of chocolate that will ensure that you keep returning to enjoy its magic, golden ticket or not!
