special exhibition at the Tempelhof Museum
Berlin was a central location for the chocolate industry for over 150 years. A prominent example is the Sarotti company, which had been based on Teilestrasse in Tempelhof since 1913. In what was then a state-of-the-art factory, the company produced up to 300,000 bars a day. Sarotti is an example of the connection between chocolate production and colonialism.
Image gallery
Schokoladenpralinen
As part of a public appeal, numerous chocolate packaging was contributed by visitors. These can be seen as a collage in the exhibition and illustrate how deeply chocolate is rooted in advertising and consumer behavior, not only as a luxury item, but also as a part of everyday culture.
The success story of chocolate is closely linked to the expansion of the German Empire and the increasing global flow of goods in the second half of the 19th century.
But behind this economic triumph lies an often overlooked history of violence and colonial exploitation. The exhibition sheds light on racist advertising strategies, the social and ecological impacts of consumption, and mechanisms of exploitation that continue to exist today.
