Hofgut Himmelreich

The Hofgut stands at the mouth of the Höllental valley, right next to Himmelreich station. Freiburg is twenty minutes away on the Höllentalbahn line, and anyone staying the night travels free with the guest card – down into the city or up into the High Black Forest, between seven in the morning and eleven at night.

The reason to come here is the way the house works. The Hofgut has been a recognised inclusion business since 2004: around 40 per cent of the staff in the hotel and restaurant have a degree of disability of at least 50 – with an employment contract at the collective pay of the hospitality trade, not a place in a sheltered workshop. An academy belongs to it, accompanying young people from school into working life. The whole thing is run as a non-profit company; the shareholder is the Diakonisches Werk Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald.

Eating and drinking

The kitchen has been certified organic since 2021 and was a finalist for the state environmental prize in 2022. What is bought is mostly regional and organic, the meat comes exclusively from animal-welfare producers in Baden-Württemberg, and there are organic wines and fair-trade coffee. You eat in the old dining room or outside in the beer garden under the yellow umbrellas.

Open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Breakfast is served until 10, the kitchen cooks until 8.30 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Staying the night

The rooms are furnished in the style of the historic estate; some comfort double rooms have a four-poster bed. There are single and double rooms in two categories, one barrier-free double room and a barrier-free pitch for campervans. Hotel and restaurant are rated under the criteria of the national “Reisen für Alle” label and checked for accessibility.

Dogs are welcome, families too – for children there is a playground with a swing, a slide and a sandpit. You book directly with the house, by phone or by email to reception.

Meetings and celebrations

Several rooms are available for seminars, conferences and celebrations, among them the “Himmelreicher Bahnhof” – old rooms with today's technology.

What is nearby

The house sits on the B 31 between Freiburg and Titisee; the exit is signposted “Bahnhof Himmelreich”. Footpaths lead from here into the Höllental and the Dreisamtal, and for e-bike tours there is hardly a better starting point.