The pleasure revolution of 1789

Tobias Finkbeiner built one of the very first houses in the Tonbach valley when the forestry industry was just starting to take hold there. Then, he opened a tavern for the thirsty lumberjacks and all the other working men. The original dining hall, of the “Traube”, is today known as the Bauernstube. His son, Ludwig, added a bakery to his father's business. In 1812, he and 24 other recruits went to fight in Napoleon's military campaign in Russia. Württemberg belonged to France at that time. Ludwig was the only one of the 25 to return and went down in local history as ”Napoleon-Bäck” (literally ”Napoleon baker”). Grandson Johann Georg received a distilling license and distilled potatoes, turnips, fruits like apples and pears, wild cherries and blueberries in the cellar.

Great-great-grandson Heinrich was the first to rent out a room when a professor from Heidelberg got lost during a hike through the woods and ended up in the Tonbach. By 1939, he had added another 14 rooms to rent. His wife Franziska cooked for the guests, and his sons, Heinrich, Albert and Willi, would pick them up with a wagon or sleigh from the train station in Baiersbronn.

Great-great-great-grandson Willi caused a stir by opening a new guest house: It was one of the first Black Forest holiday hotels to offer a room with a bath and balcony. The building has 64 beds and is the first wing of the hotel today.

Traube Tonbach, with the Schwarzwaldstube, became a member of the restaurant association Les Grandes Tables Du Monde – Traditions & Qualité.

The completely re-designed, spacious pool landscape and sauna had its grand opening. With its modern and elegant atmosphere, relaxing here was easy.

The Traube Tonbach Court opened. The reconstructed tennis facility now provides a place for children, cooking and conferences and is, first and foremost, a paradise for younger guests to play to their heart's content.

Matthias and Sebastian Finkbeiner, the sons of the owners Renate and Heiner Finkbeiner, continue the family tradition and started their work in the management of the hotel Traube Tonbach.

The commissioning of our block heat and power plant marked an important step towards greater care for the environment. The block heat and power plant generates 434 kilowatts of power and an additional 770 kilowatts of thermal output, which is then used to heat water. A total of 2.5 million kilowatt hours of energy and 3.75 million kilowatt hours of heat are generated by the plant every year, thus covering about 65 percent of the hotel’s energy needs. The carbon emissions, compared to conventional energy supply, have been reduced by roughly 1,400,000 kilograms annually.

Opening of the “Neues Schloss” in Meersburg as an exclusive leaseholder. The place offers great facilities for unforgettable weddings and events with a wonderful view over Lake Constance and catering for up to 140 people.

The complete refurbishment of Haus Kohlwald also began. Of the 41 double and single rooms only 23 family apartments and one suite remained, giving guets more space and freedom to relax. The new track not only perfectly integrates into the harmonious landscape, it also boasts environmental-friendly, sustainable operations. The whole hotel complex is supplied with energy from Traube Tonbach’s own block power station from this time on.

Finkbeiner family takes over the new subsidiary Schlosshotel Monrepos in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. The Schlosshotel with the restaurant Gutsschenke and 77 rooms and suites, as well as 10 conference rooms is part of the domain Monrepos – a spacious park around the baroque Seeschloss Monrepos which has been built by the Duke of Württemberg in the 18th century. Next to the Seeschloss, which offers meeting rooms for prestigious festivities and events, a 29-hole-golf-course as well as a modern horse riding farm round up the historic scenery of the grounds. The domain also is the domicile of the wineyard Herzog of Württemberg.

The Black Forest National Park opened on 1 January 2014. It is an important contribution towards protecting nature and biodiversity, and also allows people to experience their surroundings and natural processes first hand.

Gault&Millau honored Heiner and Renate Finkbeiner with the Hotelier of the Year award. The renowned French gourmet guide acknowledged the outstanding commitment of these two passionate hosts. The international industry resource praised the Finkbeiners for their entrepreneurial creativity and culinary passion, calling it exemplary and visionary for the German hotel sector.

The Tonbach natural water spring began delivering fresh water. In the newly renovated outdoor pool, guests can experience the natural water quality in person.

Over the years, he has continuously worked to refine his culinary signature. This included spending time working with other renowned chefs – like Heston Blumenthal at Fat Duck in Berkshire, René Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen, and Jean-Georges Kleins at L’Arnsbourg in Baerenthal.

Schwarzwaldstube received the Michelin Guide’s highest rating, three stars, for the 26th year. This is confirmed in the latest 2018 edition of the famed French restaurant guide. This makes Schwarzwaldstube the only restaurant in Germany to continuously receive three stars over more than two decades.

Renowned restaurant ranking La Liste named Schwarzwaldstube the best restaurant in Germany. La Liste uses an algorithm to evaluate over 550 restaurant guides, including Gault&Millau and the Michelin Guide, and also incorporates popular diner rating portals into this calculation. Schwarzwaldstube is in 5th place among the world’s leading restaurants, at 98.75 percent. In 2019, the Schwarzwaldstube moved up to 4th place, with 99.0 percent, to become Germany’s best restaurant.

The elegant hotel hall, bright colonnade, and cozy pub were lovingly updated. The new interior design achieves a harmonious balance of traditional and fresh, modern ideas.

On the night of January 5th, a fire completely destroyed our historic building with the à la carte restaurants Schwarzwaldstube, Köhlerstube and Bauernstube, where the Traube Tonbach originated. Our hotel business continues as normal.

The restaurants Köhlerstube and Schwarzwaldstube should be brought back to life as soon as possible. And that at short notice and regardless of the planned new building of the parent company. The interim restaurants are scheduled to go into operation in April.

In order to be able to serve you a varied selection of delicacies as usual, even after the devastating fire in our parent company, our restaurant Köhlerstube, headed by head chef Florian Stolte, will temporarily find a new home in the restaurant Silberberg from February 2020. There is a separate guest area in which we serve our menu of the Köhlerstube.

Our Michelin stars have been burned with our original building. The restaurants Köhlerstube and Schwarzwaldstube were destroyed by a fire. The new Michelin guide 2020 speaks of a great loss for the top gastronomy, but unfortunately the guide's rules and regulations do not allow any other decision, as the awards are always linked to the restaurants. For the teams of Torsten Michel and Florian Stolte, we are particularly sorry for the loss of their hard-earned stars through no fault of their own. We therefore wish that pride outweighs what we have achieved. Because even if the four stars are history for the time being - their cuisine will be preserved! More information is available here: https://cisn.co/39iqaX7

Temporary restaurants in the temporaire: The Köhlerstube and Schwarzwaldstube restaurants are planned to be rebuild as quickly as possible and independently of the planned new building of the burned historic place. The planned commissioning in the specially designed "temporaire" - the temporary home for the two award-winning restaurants - is planned for May 2020.

Award: Torsten Michel is awarded "Chef of the Year" by the culinary travel guide Gusto. He achieved the maximum rating of 10 pans with a bonus arrow for the Schwarzwaldstube for the first time.

Re-establishment of the stars for the interim restaurants in the temporaire
2020 and 2021 were also marked by the Corona pandemic and the associated constraints. The hotel was forced to close for a total of 8 months in these two years.

On April 8, 2022, the newly built Stammhaus opened its doors. After a three-week closure, in which the move from the temporaire was managed, we can now again treat our guests with culinary delights three à la carte restaurants. The three restaurants are located in the same place as in the former main building, but the culinary concepts of the former Bauernstube and Köhlerstube have been changed somewhat. Florian Stolte's gourmet cuisine continues in a few seats in the "1789". In the larger room, the "Schatzhauser," there are delicacies from near and far in a relaxed atmosphere. The Schwarzwaldstube has its place in front of a breathtaking window panorama in the original line-up around Torsten Michel, Stéphane Gass and Nina Mihilli.