Dresden’s Neustadt neighborhood is an intersection of the bourgeoisie and the bohemian. There’s a distinct alternative scene with eccentric cafes and pubs, art galleries, small theaters and little shops. One of those shops in particular will surprise you. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but open the door and step inside Pfunds Molkerei and you will think you have walked into a picture book. Every inch of the walls, ceiling, floor, and counters of this little dairy shop is covered with hand painted tiles produced by Villeroy & Boch in cooperation with local artists.
Children romp in the scenes painted on the tiles milking cows, selling milk from carts and playing with puppies. Butterflies flutter through the air. There are rabbits, squirrels, pigeons, and kittens and wide landscapes dotted with windmills, oceans and streams. The dairy process is beautifully illustrated throughout. Every inch of the store yields a new discovery. The elaborate tiles earned the shop a Guinness World Record in 1998 as the “world’s most beautiful dairy shop.”
It started as a practical venture. In the second half of the 19th century, Dresden was developing into a major industrial city with a rapidly growing population and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the city supplied with milk. Reinholdshain farmer, Paul Pfund, decided to move his dairy cows to the city, eliminating the need for the transport and possible spoiling of the milk.
In 1879, he moved to Dresden with his wife and six cows. From those six cows, Pfund created an empire that in the 1930’s processed 60,000 liters of milk and exported its evaporated milk to the whole world. The outlet store for the company’s prestigious headquarters is now the dairy shop.
The gorgeous ceramic counter displays an exquisite selection of cheese specialties produced from the milk of cows, goats and sheep. There are cheeses from the local Saxon region of Eastern Germany as well as cheeses from Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France. Most of the cheese products are produced with raw milk from animals that graze freely in open pastures. The milk is not heated preserving the full nutritional value as well as the excellent taste.
Pfunds supplies what I consider the two most important foods—cheese and chocolate, and the most important beverage—wine. The shop carries an extensive collection of quality wines from the Saxon region as well as every major wine region in Europe. There is also a selection of quality chocolates from producers throughout Europe.
Pfunds Cafe is a relatively new addition to the shop. Located upstairs above the dairy store, the stylish cafe seats 90 and includes as part of its decor artifacts such as milk cans, centrifuge machines and butter barrels from the former factory building.
The seasonal menu showcases Pfunds’ dairy products. Choose from entrees like mushroom ravioli with a cognac cream sauce, tortellini with spinach and grated feta, or pork medallions in pepper cream sauce with potatoes.
Whether you choose to dine in the cafe or pick up wine, cheese and chocolate for an urban picnic, one thing is certain —Pfunds is a feast for your eyes as well as your mouth.