Who Invented the Currywurst?

Both Berlin and Hamburg claim to have invented the currywurst. However, only Herta Heuwer from Berlin, who is said to have invented the currywurst in 1949, has applied for a patent. Allegedly, one day she got so bored in her snack bar on Stuttgarter Platz that she started to create a sauce with tomato paste and spices. She cut a boiled sausage into pieces and garnished it with her tomato sauce, which she patented ten years later under the name “Chillup”. However, she is said to have taken the recipe to her grave. In Berlin there is also the German Currywurst Museum, which provides information about the history, legends, and interesting facts about the popular snack.

The novella by Uwe Timm “The Discovery of the Currywurst” speaks in favor of the Hamburg version. In it he tells the story of the fictional protagonist Lena Brücker, who after the Second World War and a tragic love for a deserter set up her own business with a snack bar – and finally prepared the first currywurst. In any case, the author claims to have eaten a currywurst at a woman’s snack stand in Hamburg’s Großneumarkt as early as 1947.

Whether from Hamburg, Berlin, the Ruhr area or another part of Germany – the sausage with the spicy sauce is an integral part of the canteens and snack bars in the Federal Republic. There are a wide variety of preparation options. Some use a bratwurst with, some without casing, while others prefer a bockwurst. Salted or smoked sausages are also often processed into the snack. What they have in common is that they are usually served sliced.

However, the true secret of the various currywurst lies in the sauce, for which each manufacturer probably has their own strictly confidential recipe. The basis is usually tomato ketchup or tomato paste and curry powder. For people who like to eat spicy, there are sauces with lots of chilli powder or cayenne pepper, but milder versions are also possible.

As an integral part of German cuisine, the currywurst has long since achieved cult status – no matter which city first invented it. Traditionally, a monument is placed at the end of almost every Cologne “Tatort” episode, when the two inspectors meet at their favorite snack bar with a view of Cologne Cathedral.