The Pfund store in Dresden is the most beautiful store in Europe. Its main feature is the interior: the walls are faced with handmade tiles, which makes it seem that you have not come to buy milk, but are visiting a majestic medieval palace. The decor, worthy of royal castles, has become a visiting card shop.
The history of the Pfund shop
It all began in 1879, when the peasant Paul Pfund got the idea to provide the inhabitants of Dresden with quality dairy products. The question arose: how to deliver perishable food? The answer came quickly: Pfund rented premises for a store in Dresden and laid out ... stalls for 6 cows in order to get milk, as we would say now, "without leaving the cash register".
This became one of the first features of the institution: city dwellers, who had never seen a cow, came to look at the outlandish animals. Pfund allowed them to participate in milking and buy milked milk. Every day, attracted by the interactive process, customers purchased 150 liters of milk. Anyone who entered the shop once became a regular customer.
Seeing the success of the venture, Pfund took partners - his brother and two grown-up sons. Sales grew: in the 1930s, sales rose to 60,000 liters of milk per year. From the liquid that could not be sold fresh, the enterprising Pfunt made condensed milk.
Paul Pfund Holding
Analyzing the success of his business, Paul Pfund came to the conclusion that it was time to expand the store. In 1891, the shop moved to a premise recognized as a real work of art:
- The store's wall tiles are a collaboration between Villeroy & Boch and local artists.
- The tiles depict fruits, birds, leaves, plants, flowers, pastoral motifs, traditional for shops and catering establishments.
The Pfund case is a prime example of nascent European capitalism:
- Rapidly growing production turnover
- Established sale of pasteurized milk, condensed milk, milk soap and special food for children
- Pfund founded a complete production cycle. The holding included a cardboard factory, a printing house where brochures and labels were printed, the production of cans for condensed milk and carts for transporting products, a varnishing shop and much more.
- All employees of the company were offered an extensive social package: employees were provided with apartments, families where replenishment happened, special payments were assigned, a kindergarten worked for the children of employees, etc.
Nowadays
The history of the store is not entirely long, but very eventful: in 1945 it miraculously managed to survive the bombing, in 1972 - the store came into the possession of the state, and in 1978 it was closed. In the 1990s, Germany was gripped by a wave of revival of traditions, so it was decided to reopen the store. Today it is not only an object of trade, but also one of the most popular tourist destinations in Dresden: hundreds of tourists come here to look at the famous tiles.
In the shop you can buy:
- Several varieties of cheese
- Yoghurts
- Condensed milk prepared according to the secret recipe of Pfund
- Milkshakes and ice cream
- Milk soap
- The bestseller is milk grappa.
Almost all products have retained the packaging that Pfund had invented. The shop has a cafe, which is a must for all lovers of cheese - cow, goat, sheep - and adherents of Saxon cuisine.
