Michelin Releases Centennial Guide to Germany

Just to show it isn’t all sausages, sauerkraut and tankards of beer quaffed by men wearing lederhosen, Michelin has been producing its guide to Germany for a whole century. To celebrate a hundred years of pointing Teutonic gourmands in the right direction, next year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Germany will, in German speaking markets, come complete with an extract of the original 1910 “Deutschland and Schweiz” guide. On top of this, one new two-star and 23 new one-star restaurants joined the list of fine-dining establishments in the 2010 guide. In all, the 1,440-page tome includes 1,515 restaurants and 4,332 hotels across all comfort and price categories. The centenary guide goes on sale November 13, 2009.

According to Michelin, the selection made by its independent, anonymous inspectors attests to Germany’s forefront positioning on the European gourmet-dining scene. The Guide contains nine three-star restaurants, which means that Germany ranks just behind France as the European country with the most fine-dining distinctions. The number of two-star restaurants in this year’s Guide has risen to 18, while the number of one-star restaurants increased from 189 to 198.
 
A total of 52 restaurants have for the first time received the Bib Gourmand label. Awarded to restaurants serving three-course meals that are impeccably prepared for a maximum of 35 euros, Michelin notes the label is especially appreciated in today’s difficult economic environment where value for money is more important than ever. In all, the Michelin Guide Germany 2010 lists 362 Bib Gourmand restaurants, compared with 336 in the previous year’s edition.

According to the MICHELIN Guide Germany 2010, the country’s leading cities for gourmet dining are Berlin and Hamburg, each with 11 one-star restaurants. Munich is also well established as an important fine-dining centre with two two-star and six one-star restaurants.

The global recession has been tough on Germany’s hospitality sector. In first half of 2009, the number of hotel nights in Germany declined by 3 per cent compared with the prior-year period, to 97.6 million. Over the same period, the number of hotel nights for foreign tourists declined by 6.5 per cent. The luxury and business segments have been especially hard hit, Michelin adds. Yet despite the difficult economic environment, the German market continues to attract new hotel chains. The gourmet-dining segment has been less affected by the recession than the hotel sector, and although revenue is down, the underlying trend is positive. During this difficult period, only economy hotels have outperformed the industry as a whole.