We had to pick one of the busiest weekends to travel to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, right in the middle of the Der Meistertrunk festival. That's when reenactors in traditional costumes stroll through the city while mobs of people watch. We arrived early and found a parking spot just outside the historic wall surrounding the town. We walked through a medieval gate, tried not to trip on the uneven cobblestones, and entered the market place, surrounded by historic buildings. After a long car ride we wanted to sit down and eat something.

Leonhard Weidmann's Baumeisterhaus
One of the buildings really stood out and even had a restaurant in it. We walked towards the Baumeisterhaus, which translates to House of the Master Builder. Built in 1596 it was the home of stonemason Leonhard Weidmann, who was also the architect of the Town Hall, located just a few steps from the Baumeisterhaus.

The outside facade intrigued us with its alternating depictions of the seven virtues, Chastity, Abstinence, Liberality, Diligence, Patience, Kindness and Humility, and the seven vices, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. When Weidmann was asked why he alternated virtues and vices, he supposedly said “because life is varied after all”. All of the stone sculptures are copies, the originals are preserved at the Reichsstadtmuseum.

Stepping into the restaurant takes you back in history with coats of arms, murals, and even historical hunting guns on the walls. It took me a while to take it all in, browsing all the different artifacts in the room.

After we placed our order, we wandered through the restaurant, exploring wall by wall and stumbling by one of the greatest bathroom entrances I have ever seen that leads to steep stairs down below. Would you go in there?

On the Menu
The Baumeisterhaus offers traditional German dishes, ranging from sausages to pork knuckles, red cabbage and schnitzel. You can also order the (supposedly) favorite meal of the Baumeister himself, which is a pork steak with onions and bacon served with fried potatoes and a small side salad. Make sure you save room for dessert, though. They have a whole showcase full of tasty cakes for you to pick from, which can make it a challenge in the afternoon, when it is Kaffee & Kuchen time. When is Kaffee & Kuchen? Read about that in our earlier post here.

One more tip before you go to the Baumeisterhaus: If the restaurant is not completely filled, walk through the dining room towards the light in the back. You will find a beautiful vine-clad courtyard with natural light, making your dining experience that much more memorable.

Let's Go!
Get your procession ready! Find the Baumeisterhaus Restaurant at Obere Schmiedgasse, 91541 Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber and on their website.

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The waitress looked at me perplexed, and sputtered “I could add salt? That would take the bubbles away.”

My face scrunched up involuntarily. Wait, what? Salt? The bubbles may be gone, but then I’d be drinking salt water?! Sebastian intervened in German, and the waitress returned with a really fancy glass bottle of water. Great, I thought, I probably just added 3 Euros to the bill when I’d have been happy with water straight from the tap.

I quickly learned the hard way that ordering water in German restaurants would be complicated. In the U.S., you order water and without further instruction you’ll get a glass at least 1/4 full of ice, and then water either straight out of the tap, perhaps through a filter first, or not. Over the years I’ve learned different U.S. cities’ water tastes different. But, no matter the city, water is free, and it's the same water that comes out of the sink that you wash the dishes with, the same water that you shower in.

It's safe to say most Germans prefer water with some form of carbonation. If you order water, you’re going to be immediately questioned how much gas, or how bubbly would you like your water. I definitely suggest that you try it, but it is a very different water experience. No matter the amount of gas, I can’t bring myself to take more than a sip.

Why Is Tap Water Inconceivable in a German Restaurant?

This culture shock for Americans is a complicated tradition. I assure you that German tap water is perfectly, absolutely safe. We’re talking German engineering and plumbing here. It's safe, and likely better for you if you’re concerned how long the water has been sitting in plastic.

So, could it be the verbiage itself? In English, the word ‘tap’ is related to several other positive things such as beer and soda that is ‘on tap’. In German, the word for tap water is Leitungswasser, which literally means pipe water. I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t want that either. They need a better word!

But, it's maybe not all in a name. Restaurant owners bank on their guests ordering drinks where they can make a higher profit margin. When you order tap water, it appears as though you’re a horrible penny-pincher, and the restaurant will be lucky to break even with your order.

If You Feel the Same About Bubbly Water, Here’s What I Do

I’ve learned to be weary of even no-gas water, as often the added minerals tastes equally as bad to my very Americanized water palate. However, I’ve had good luck with the French bottled water brands Vittel and Volvic. We’ve gotten in the habit of ordering Vittel outright in restaurants, that way if they don’t have it the server will usually tell you what the alternatives are, giving the opportunity to switch to soda if you have to. Otherwise, if you order just still water you may end up with one of the mineral water brands that have the mineral taste. I tend to order more coffee and soda than I do in the States, surprisingly. Although it's not as healthy I feel more confident I know what I’m getting when I’m already exhausted and thirsty from walking all over the town.

While exploring cities, I pack my S’well water bottle in the morning, filled with refrigerated tap water. The bottle keeps water cold for 24 hours and I use my S’well bottle all year at home, too. In Florida I can leave the bottle in the car, where the temperatures get to be over a hundred degrees inside on a hot day, and when I get back, even while the exterior of the bottle is hot, the water is still refrigerator cold. It's magical! Before I discovered S’well, we were going through plastic bottles like crazy, and then carrying the empty ones around all day in order to get our pfand returned. Learn more about pfand in our earlier post here.

If you're interested, this is the S'well bottle I have, in the Supernova design. It changes colors depending on the lighting, (affiliate link):

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This place is packed, we are never going to find an open table.

Scanning the room for a place to sit, or a hostess, we wandered through half of the Hofbräuhaus, stressed waitresses passing us with plates of food and glasses full of beer. We knew we wanted a taste of everything on those trays. At a loss, I stopped one of the waitresses near the tables, and I politely asked her how to find a table.

I knew the answer, you simply had to ask someone already sitting at the table, or wait for someone to leave, but I was not in the mood for either. The waitress smiled at me, then shouted towards the patrons on a nearby table to huddle together and make space for our group of four. This was going to be comfy! And it was.

Hofbräuhaus History and Folk Tales

The Hofbräuhaus is the oldest beer hall in Munich, and self-proclaimed 'The most famous tavern in the world”. On September 27, 1589, the Duke of Bavaria founded a brewery on the site of the Munich royal residence of that time, which lasted until 1808. The Duke preferred a dark, malty beer, while his son Maximilian favored Weissbier, which means 'white beer' in German. In the United States the white beer brew is usually found under the name Hefeweizen.

The brewery of the Duke kept brewing only the dark beer variant, which resulted in Maximilian building his own brewery in 1607. In the beginning the beer hall was filled with brewing equipment, which was later moved and more than 1000 guests can find a seat in the beer hall of the Hofbräuhaus today. About half of the visitors are regulars, the other half tourists. And legend has it, that one of the 1000 guests is actually an angel – based on the folk tale “Ein Münchner im Himmel”.

It tells the story of Alois Hingerl, a porter on Munich’s central station, who dies and goes to heaven. But Alois does not like heaven with all the singing and worshiping all day long, irritating other angels around him that he wants to go back to Munich. After fussing for a while, God decides to send him on a mission back to earth, delivering an important message to the Bavarian government. Alois Hingerl takes off and ends up in the Hofbräuhaus instead of delivering the message. He orders a beer, and another one, and based on the folklore story, still sits there at one of the tables to this day while the Bavarian government is patiently waiting for heavenly advice to come their way. The TV Channel Bayrischer Rundfunk made a comic based on the story, you can see the video here, starting with Alois flying back to Munich with a letter in his hand:

Hofbräuhaus Beer Stein Lockers

With Alois Hingerl always being around in spirit and many Munich regulars visiting, the Hofbräuhaus caters to them by providing over 400 tankard lockers. That way you do not have to take your beer glass home every time. However, the limited amount of lockers translates into a long wait list - just in case you were toying with the idea of getting yourself a personal locker there. List wait times can be several years, many lockers are handed down from generation to generation.

Getting a Table at Hofbräuhaus, Munich

Besides the local crowd you will find a lot of tourists there, too. The central location, good food, overall typical Bavarian atmosphere complete with live band and waitresses wearing dirndls, is a magnet for many. You will find most tables full of people. You can either ask a waitress if she knows where open spaces are or look around yourself and ask those sitting at half-empty tables, “Ist hier frei?”, which means “is this spot taken?” Don’t be shy! If you cannot find a place inside, check the beer garden area outside with another 400 seats - weather permitting of course.

Sing-a-long Time

You did not walk into the set of a musical. Public singing is perfectly normal at the Hofbräuhaus. Chime in with the live band that plays several times per hour. They usually play...

“In München Steht ein Hofbräuhaus”

OR “Ein Prosit”....

so you can practice before you go.

If you have been to the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, let us know how your visit went. And if you plan on going there and have a question, let us know, too. Just leave us a comment below this post.

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