The white onion tower of Schloss Hohenkammer towers defiantly, while opposite it a modern hotel building made of glass and wood invites visitors to enter the light-flooded interiors. Schloss Hohenkammer combines two worlds: the historical and the modern. This dichotomy is accompanied by the principle of sustainability, which is lived by all employees.
Those who are invited to Hohenkammer – about 35 kilometres from Munich – for an event can expect not only a comfortable hotel and the special ambience of a castle, but also excellent cuisine with regional delicacies, the basic products of which largely come from the affiliated „Eichethof“ estate.
And daily greets the onion
It adorns – without being dainty – the tower of the historic moated castle, which was built in the 16th century. Again and again, the gaze wanders up to the pot-bellied landmark of this special conference location. In view of the fairytale surroundings, the conference participants will certainly find it a little harder to concentrate on the agenda. Some will hardly be able to wait for the breaks to be able to follow their own agenda.
The more sociable will seek out the shady beer garden in summer. Those seeking peace and quiet will retreat to the adjacent castle park for a breather. Here they still exist: enchanted corners where you won’t meet a soul – pure nature, so to speak. In the extensive castle park, everyone can find their own personal favourite spot and leave the seminar day behind them for a short moment. Where, if not here, could you take a wonderful stroll – in the sunshine as well as on a misty autumn day?
In the evening, the wellness area beckons. To get there, you walk along rough, unworked granite blocks. The imaginative feel transported to the Middle Ages. Switch off, enjoy the tranquillity, leave everyday life behind – it’s possible here.
The hotel: modern and flooded with light
The historic ambience in a charming landscape does not mean that time has stood still here. The proof is on the opposite side of the castle, where the hotel shows its modern side and sets a counterpoint to the castle building.
A box made of wood and glass forms the front of the hotel entrance. At first glance bulky and yet delicate, when the light shines through in the evening, the hotel entrance forms the antithesis to the historic moated castle with its thick white walls. Anyone who enters the interior immediately feels at home, even though the surfaces and rooms have nothing at all of the homely baroque about them.
Building materials from the region
When the sun is shining, the light has many opportunities to conjure up vivid textures inside the room. Those who can keep their hands still at the reception and do not stroke the surface of the reception desk have great self-control or simply do not have the desire to feel the special texture under their fingers. The wood in the reception building as well as the wood of the tables, beds and cupboards in the hotel rooms come from the hotel’s own forests.
Sustainability generally plays a major role as a guiding principle in the management of the conference business, just as it does at Gut Eichethof. This farm, which is also part of the castle’s property, produces on 540 hectares almost everything the kitchen needs to provide its guests with regional, here even local, delicacies.
The agricultural master and the dear cattle
The conference hotel offers more than a magical setting in the middle of a gentle landscape. Doing business the way it was done 100 years ago, so that the environment will still be in order in 100 years’ time – this is how one could describe the motto to which Schloss Hohenkammer and the adjacent Eichethof estate have dedicated themselves.
Since 1992, Helmut Steber, the master farmer at Gut Eichethof, has been committed to implementing the principles of sustainability on the farm. Everything that guests and visitors enjoy in the two restaurants with a clear conscience has been grown, freshly harvested or slaughtered not far from the castle. Here, the story of the happy cows is not a fairy tale, but reality. The meat from game, Angus cattle, pigs and chickens comes from the estate or the three associated hunting grounds. They can move freely and are kept in a species-appropriate manner. The Schwäbisch-Hällisches Landschwein that is wallowing in the mud bath would certainly agree. So everything that ends up on the plates of conference guests and restaurant visitors is guaranteed to be “organic” of the best quality.
The star chef conjures up magic in the vault
For the menus, the chefs of the three restaurants are inspired by what the vegetable garden has to offer seasonally – they can choose from over 30 types of vegetables and various herbs. More than 1,500 fruit trees guarantee that Florian Vogel, star chef at Camers Schlossrestaurant, can always come up with new dessert creations. They are truly small works of art that he conjures up for the guests – almost too beautiful to eat. If the guest does eat them, he can be sure that almost all the ingredients come from the region.
With his skill and talent, Florian Vogel regularly convinces the testers from Gault & Millau and Guide Michelin. They have rewarded him with an outstanding 15 points and one star respectively. For restaurant visitors, the way to the castle restaurant alone is a small experience. A drawbridge leads across the impressive courtyard of the historic moated castle, straight into the beautiful vaulted room of the Camers, where the culinary journey begins.
At Camers Castle Restaurant, the cuisine is exquisite and sustainable at the same time. Apples, pears, sloes and plums are not only served on the dessert plates, but also in the bottle. Fine brandies are produced in the estate’s own distillery. The liquid fruit and the fine vinegars are popular souvenirs.
Organic – not only in our own agriculture
Gut Eichethof is a model organic farm and has been producing according to strict Naturland standards since 1992. In 2002, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture included the Eichethof estate as a demonstration farm in the „Organic Farming Offensive“. It received the award “Sustainable Agriculture Fit for the Future” from the German Agricultural Society (DLG).
The principle of sustainability is firmly anchored in the minds of the staff and managers of the hotel, restaurants and estate. In November 2020, Schloss Hohenkammer received GreenSign Level 4 certification from the InfraCert Institute for the area of „Social Responsibility“, which is the highest level awarded. One of the reasons the castle received this rating was the fact that Schloss Hohenkammer is energy self-sufficient and feeds the electricity it produces itself into the public grid. Two combined heat and power plants with a combined output of 385 kW of electricity and heat, powered by methane gas from the biogas plant, are part of the estate – in addition to a wood chip plant with 600 kW, as well as solar energy and photovoltaics. The estate is thus responsible for 98 % of the heat demand of the castle and conference centre being covered by its own facilities. Martin Kirsch, Managing Director of Schloss Hohenkammer: “According to our definition, sustainability simply means doing the right thing. Especially for us as a house with its own agriculture, ‘green thinking’ has a high priority. But it’s not just about organic – the topic of regionality is even more important to some extent.”
Sustainability is lived here – this is noticeable everywhere and has long since shed the 80s „eco-touch“. The exterior of the reception building signals that the leap into modernity has worked: The conference centre and hotel provide every comfort and the technical equipment to hold seminars and conferences professionally in a pleasant ambience. In addition, the hotel offers its guests three free e-charging stations as well as bicycles and e-bikes for rent, thus enabling sustainable mobility.
Hohenkammer Castle in brief
The Schloss Hohenkammer conference centre has 30 rooms for events for up to 180 people as well as a large event hall, a football pitch, a bowling alley and a high ropes course for outdoor activities. The four-star hotel has 168 guest rooms. In addition to the Camers Schlossrestaurant, there is the Gutshof Restaurant, the Alte Galerie and the Biergarten am Schlosspark. The Eichethof estate comprises 540 ha of cultivated land and 500 ha of woodland.
Address: Schloss Hohenkammer GmbH, Schlossstraße 18 – 25, 85411 Hohenkammer
