Back

Niederegger Marzipan – A must visit while in Lubeck

Last updated Nov 15, 2021



Destinations | Europe | Germany | Lubeck



Niederegger Marzipan is so much more than a store. It’s a café, restaurant, shop, and museum. We are not huge on shopping and often skip the large branded stores. However, while in Lubeck, you can’t skip a visit to Niederegger. And don’t just rush in to get your marzipan fix. Make sure to take your time here and visit the museum on the second floor.

Table of Contents

Marzipan was created in Lubeck

During medieval times, Lubeck had a good relationship with the middle east and they were trading a lot of things. Almonds came from the middle east and it was cheaper than wheat. The first marzipan was crushed almonds and pigs fat. Yes, you read it right – marzipan during medieval times was made with pig fat. I’m glad that they have changed the recipe since then. Because they took away the fat and added sugar and rose water instead.

The thing that was great about the marzipan is that you would stay satisfied for a lot longer than if you would eat a loaf of bread. And one thing that’s funny about Lubeck’s marzipan and that is a fact is that the doctor would prescribe it for people as a remedy. So to whom would he prescribe it? What was the sickness? Well, a broken heart. And this is no b*s, but an actual fact because they found old prescriptions in the city’s archives.

Niederegger – the original marzipan maker in Lubeck

Founded in 1806, Niederegger is like the “original father of marzipan”. You can see some amazing artwork made out of the marzipan in the windows of the store. It’s impressive and it really urges you to go inside and check this place out. Niederegger can’t be described in one word. It’s a shop, a museum, and a café all in one. And it needs to be checked out in all of its glory!

A tip is to not just enter the shop but to also get to the second floor for a visit to the museum and the café. We ended up spending about two hours here and if we weren’t on a schedule, we would probably have spent even more time here.

Buy marzipan in the shop

With more than 300 different products, this shop is huge and everywhere you look, there’s marzipan. Well, there’s more than marzipan because here you can also buy nougat and chocolates. But the main focus is still on the sweet treat and boy, is there many to choose from. Aisle after aisle filled with the treats that are nicely packed and just waiting for you to eat them!

the famous Holstentor made out of marzipan

Only the imagination sets the boundaries inside this shop. And like the artwork made out of marzipan that’s in the windows – there’s artwork inside the shop as well. See the famous Holstentor made out of both marzipan and nougat. And admire the Statue of Liberty while filling your cart with goodies.

Buy pralines and endless artwork in small bites

Fruits, animals, potatoes, bread, yes, everything you can imagine is there – made out of marzipan. My absolute favorite things are the nice gift boxes where you get different flavored marzipan in one nice box. And how about liquor made out of marzipan? You get our drift: if you can imagine it – you can buy it here.

There is a small café located inside the shop and there’s also a confectionery where you can buy different cakes and pralines to take with you. We recommend that you not visit the smaller café downstairs, but rather go to the second floor to enjoy the “real café”. During our visit, we noticed that a lot of people stay on the first floor and that’s really a shame because there’s so much to explore at Niederegger.

Niederegger marzipan museum is a Guinness world record holder

A museum dedicated to marzipan might not sound super exciting at first glance but you will want to check this museum out. It’s a museum but it’s called a salon. It’s free of charge and it’s really interesting because you will learn a lot about Niederegger and the history of Marzipan. There is a movie that’s playing and where you can see how the sweet treat is made. A tip is to wait for the movie to start from the beginning and watch it.

Even if the museum isn’t that big, there’s still a lot to explore here. Take part in the interactive exhibition and have fun with it. And check out all the artwork that is made out of marzipan here. There’s a piece of Cupid (Amor) getting hatched from an egg that is very impressive. It’s made by Wolfgang Joop and it took the artist about 400 hours to make. Marzipan was prescribed for broken hearts, remember?!

Make sure to look at the wiev from the museum – town hall is super impressive and can be seen from a different angle here.

Worlds largest artwork made out of marzipan

Niederegger marzipan museum is a Guinness world record holder

Cupid in all its glory but that’s not the most impressive work of art at the museum. Check out the biggest artwork ever created in marzipan. It’s made by the German sculptor, Johannes Kiefer and it took him about 3 500 hours to create. And it’s made out of 500 kilograms of Niederegger marzipan. That’s a world record right there!

The artwork is portraying 12 life-sized figures and each and every one of them has its own history to tell. Together they are showing the historical journey of the almond paste from the Orient to Lubeck. If you are interested you can read more about each and every figure that’s presented in the art piece. There are also some important people that have formed Lubeck’s history included.

Check out the Niederegger Marzipan Cafe

So, after visiting the museum, be sure to hang around on the second floor because here you have the café. There is a lot of cakes and treats to choose from but we definitely recommend you to stick to the “marzipan theme” and go for their most famous Marzipan Gateau. Now, I’m not sure whether traditional Marzipan princess cake is known worldwide but it’s a huge thing in Sweden. This was even better than that!

The Marzipan Gateau is like a princess cake but with even more marzipan. We both really loved it. Oh, how I wish that they would share the recipe because I would have loved to bake this at home. To top it all of we each had a cup of their famous marzipan cappuccino. Do I need to tell you that it was also incredible?!

Marzipan or almond paste – what’s the difference? Well, almond paste is softer and is often used in baked goods. Marzipan is more firm and you use it in making candies, chocolates or as fondant for cakes. Another difference is that you add rose water to marzipan.

Making marzipan at home is possible

So, not everyone can go to Lubeck and stock up on marzipan. Well, we are glad to inform you that you can make your own marzipan at home. By this, I’m not in any way suggesting that it will taste like Niederegger marzipan but you can still make it yourself. And it’s easy to do so why not try it out?!

If you want you can grind your own almonds into flour but it’s a lot easier to just buy almond flour. If you make your own flour – keep in mind that the flour will become more “wet” since there’s oil from the almonds.

Recipe for marzipan – about 4 deciliters.

Ingredients:

3,4 (1,5 cups) deciliters almond flour.
3,4 deciliters of powdered sugar.
2 teaspoons of almond extract (make sure to use a good quality one).
1 teaspoon of rose water.
1 egg white.

Instructions:

Run the flour and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Make sure that there are no lumps left in the bowl.
Add the almond extract and the rose water and pulse it in the food processor unit it’s well blended.
Add the egg white and run it in the food processor until it’s a thick paste. If it’s too wet, add some more flour and powdered sugar. But remember that the dough will become more firm when it’s in the refrigerator.
Work the dough into a log and wrap it into a plastic wrapper and place it in the refrigerator.
It will be good for one month if you keep it in the fridge and about 6 months in the freezer.
Enjoy!

Information about Niederegger:

Address: Zeiss-Straße 1–7.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 09.00 – 19.00. Saturdays: 09.00 – 18.00. Sundays 10.00 – 18.00.
Website

Check out some of the restaurants and cafes in Lubeck

We have been to all of them and can vouch for each and every one of them. Lubeck has so many nice restaurants and cafés to offer that it’s impossible to try them all out!