Submit to your chocolate desires!

by Nicole Karsch-Meibom
Contributing writer


Enough of all that self-control! Let your sweet tooth take over for a day and experience the world of chocolate at the chocolArt 2011, the biggest and ultimate chocolate festival in Germany.

This sweet seduction takes place from Saturday to Dec. 4 in downtown Tübingen. More than 100 top chocolate producers will turn Tübingen, a beautiful university city, into the chocolate capital of Germany.

Over several thousand square meters and more than 100 chocolate paths, chocolate delights will reign supreme.

“Of course, we have the classic range of offers like tasting sessions, cooking courses and live events in the chocolateROOM, but there will also be unique opportunities to experience a chocolate massage, a Schoko-Illumination, chocolate theater, art and exhibitions,” said chocolArt organizer Hans-Peter Schwarz. “There is really everything possibly connected to this sweet. On Dec. 3, there is going to be a special shopping night, and many restaurants have designed exclusive chocolate menus for theses days.”

Try grilled salmon on white chocolate polenta, roasted duck with coriander chocolate and orange red cabbage ,or lamb’s lettuce in a choco-rasberry dressing. More of these delights can be found at www.chocolart.de/chocokulinarium-6 with a list of participating restaurants.

A special rose chocolate has been developed especially for the exclusive wellness massage sessions. Alternative practitioner Roswitha Haug-Henseler will use them for Chinese techniques of back and head massages during the festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at the Hotel Krone (Uhlandstraße 1, 72072 Tübingen).

“This chocolate mixture is a wonderful treat. It is soft and warm, it smells delicious and at the same time it is so healthy for the patient. You can relax perfectly,” she said. For appointments, call 07071-13310.

Another highlight of the festival will be the world record attempt of baking the world’s biggest chocolate cookie Tuesday on the “Holzmarkt” in Tübingen.

“The amount of events is overwhelming. There is so much more, from cocoa painting to chocoPost, from kids’ chocolate sessions to confectionary making,” Schwarz said. “It will be hard to choose. Fortunately, the festival lasts for five days.” 

A program of the festival can be found online at www.chocolart.de/programm.
Tübingen is about two and a half hours drive away from Kaiserslautern, south of Stuttgart. Tübingen offers a beautiful medieval downtown area that’s always well worth a visit.

The chocolART opens from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to
11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Entry is free and there are many events for children, too. For a sweet impression, check out www.chocolart.de.

If you missed the festival, you can still get your share of sugary delights in one of these chocolate factories:

WAWI chocolate factory (Unterer Sommerwaldweg 19-20, 66953 Pirmasens), www.wawi-schokolade.de.

Ritter Sport chocolate factory (Alfred-Ritter-Str. 25, 71111 Waldenbuch), www.
ritter-sport.us.

Keim Schokoladenwarefabrik (Im Neudeck 24, 67346 Speyer), www.keim-schokolade.de.