In May 2018, the Erhardt family opened the doors of their Werdenfelserei for the first time. Just a creek's width from Garmisch's spa gardens, the impressive wooden building is now an integral part of the market town at the foot of the Zugspitze and a popular meeting place among locals.
"We are pleased that after only a very short time we sensed that our concept was well received by both vacationers and locals," says Monika Erhardt, who runs the hotel with her husband and two daughters. When the dream of the Werdenfelserei only existed in the heads of the host family, they were already thinking hard about how to realize a hotel that would conserve resources as much as possible. "Preserving the beauty of the wonderful landscape in our Werdenfelser Land region and consciously taking responsibility for people and the environment - also and even more so for future generations - that's what motivated us. That's why not only ecological standards, but also ethical values and social responsibility are among the principles of our corporate management."
Comprehensive sustainability concept
And so the Erhardt family, which itself comes from the region, is continuously exploring how to work in an even more future-oriented way in a wide variety of areas. In the case of heating energy, savings of around 40% have already been achieved compared with hotels of a similar size. This also includes using every suitable roof surface by means of a photovoltaic system. The cooks' pots are mostly filled with food from local farmers. Everything that the hotelier family can get from the surrounding area, or at least from local sources, is sourced from there. This also applies to the extensive wine list, where the emphasis is on German products
A house with special character
The "rooftop pool with a box view of the Zugspitze: In the heated infinity pool, it seems as if you are swimming directly into the mountains. More precisely, to the highest mountain in Germany. Next to it is a church steeple, lots of greenery, and behind it many other peaks that literally stand guard for the spa guest - the location could not have been painted more beautifully.
Wood & Security: A boutique hotel made of wood, you can see that from the outside and from the inside equally. Guests feel the natural material as soon as they enter the building. Another important building element is the glass. So for nature shows the most spectacular spectacles, and guests should always keep them in view through large glass facades.
Regional & homemade: The bread is home-baked and fish, meat, cheese, dairy products, chocolate and herbs come from producers just around the corner and are freshly processed in the Werdenfelserei kitchen. Even the lamb sometimes comes directly from the employees' farm. Sustainability not only played a central role in the construction of the house, but continues to run through all areas of the Werdenfelserei, including the kitchen Sustainable & future-oriented: At Werdenfelserei, nearly everything comes from natural products - from the interior to the kitchen. Since the hotel's inception, the hosts have been working to operate sustainably, and this process never ends. The energy house meets the KfW55 standard and is supplied by green electricity from the municipality as well as by its own photovoltaic system (95.07 KWp). Heating is provided by district heating from the regional biogas plant. In addition, an efficient heat recovery system can save 40 percent on heating. Over the past five years, continuous improvements have been made in terms of sustainability, so that the upcoming eco-certification of the house will certainly result in an extremely positive assessment.
Text: Peter Grett
Images: Werdenfelserei