The Pig Museum in Stuttgart

If I told you the world’s biggest pig museum is in Stuttgart, would you think I was telling you a porkie?

Well, I’m not. Lying to you is a loin I wouldn’t cross.

When I found out that there was a Pig Museum (or Schweine Museum, in German) in Stuttgart, I was so excited it was almost enough to make me squeal.

So I immediately trotted off there chop chop. I didn’t want to miss piggy.

The museum opened in 2010 in the old administration building of a slaughterhouse. Since then it has grown to the point where it has more than 50,000 items on display.

It may be a little strange… but I actually think it’s one of the most interesting things to do in Stuttgart.

The museum is less about the pig itself, and more about what we, as humans, have done with the pig image. And, gee, do we ham it up!

Pigs might fly but they also sit, eat, and shag… and all of things are represented in the items on display.

There are piggy banks (of course) but also kitchenware, antique statues, soft toys, ties… even a letterbox.

It seems there’s nothing that can’t be made in the image of a pig. Where there’s a swill, there’s a way.

It’s all divided into 27 themed rooms that each have a topic like international pigs, wedding pigs, mythical pigs… and so on. There’s even an x-rated section where the pigs are… well, porking.

Another room is all about hobbies and there’s a great painting of pigs playing cards. I’m not sure what game but I assume it’s porker.

Now, you might think it all sounds like a bit of a boar. To that, I say hogwash!

There is so much to see here that you could huff and puff and not even blow half the house down.

If having the best collection of pork paraphernalia was a sport, this museum would win the olympig gold medal! I’m not sure there is much competition, but it would certainly take home the bacon!

You also learn a little because, along the way, there are some interesting facts.

Did you know that there are more pigs than people in Denmark?

Or that China has half the world’s pigs? Or that there is only one pig in Afghanistan and it’s kept in a zoo?

No? Well, these are the kind of difficult answers you get when you ask the through questions!

Anyway. This isn’t your usual tourist attraction but it’s a good laugh. There are actually some really nice items here and it’s fascinating just to see the scale of the whole thing.

You might wonder how it gets enough visitors to still be in business but you know why it’s still going strong? It’s too pig to fail!

Visiting the Pig Museum in Stuttgart

It may not be one of the biggest sights, but I would suggest trying to find some time to visit the Pig Museum in Stuttgart, because it’s not your average attraction.

If you’re driving, there is parking in the surrounding streets. By public transport, it’s easy to reach on the Stuttgart Stadtbahn (on the U9).

One good way to get to the Pig Museum is on the Stuttgart Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which you can use for 24 hours and will take you to all the city’s main sights. You can get your ticket in advance here.

Although you can go at any pace you like, I would suggest that you’ll easily be done within an hour.

It’s also a good attraction for families because adults and children will both find things amusing here.

As well as the permanent collection, there are a few rooms that are used for temporary exhibitions, so things are always changing here – even if you’ve been before, you’ll find something new.

One thing to note: the museum does not have disabled access to the first and second floors of the museum.

For more information, see the official website of the Pig Museum.

Believe it or not, but a museum dedicated to pigs is actually quite a good place to get a meal. There’s a great restaurant that serves things like suckling pig from the grill and pork knuckle. With a large outside area and beers on tap, it’s beautiful on a warm day.

Although the museum is a little bit out of the centre of Stuttgart, there are a couple of other things to see nearby. The most interesting is the Mercedes-Benz Museum, which is just across the river.

Time Travel Turtle was a guest of Baden-Wurttemberg and DB Bahn but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.