Hotel Dorotheenhof | Weimar

Dressed in white overalls, Sten Fischer walks through green fruit trees towards the five colourfully painted wooden boxes with green lids. The closer he gets, the louder the humming of the five bee colonies that are busy building combs and are untiringly bringing home the pollen. Equipped with thick gloves and a beekeeper's hat, Sten carefully takes one of the lids off and puts it on the ground. He can now look down into the humming beehive from above. He grabs a golden smoker and blows a few clouds of smoke between the honeycombs. Immediately, the bees crawl deeper into the hive – an ancient bee instinct to save themselves during forest fires, and an equally ancient beekeeper tactic to be able to do what you have to do with the bees out of the way. Sten can now have a good look at the combs with very little risk. One of them is already quite full. He will be able to take it out soon to extract the honey. "We extract the honey three times a year," Sten explains. "We make around 40 to 50 kilos of honey in this way." 

Sten Fischer - Owner of the Konsumhotel Dorotheenhof in Weimar ©Florian Trykowski, Thüringer Tourismus GmbH

Sten Fischer is not only a beekeeper. He is also the director of the hotel "Dorotheenhof", located in the green countryside to the north of the town of Weimar, home to so many of Germany's classic culture greats, between hillside vineyards and the Ilmtal valley. In addition, he is also a trained chef who has been awarded two toques by Gault Millau. We can already guess: In the Dorotheenhof kitchen, great importance is attached to using regional and seasonal products. How useful, then, that the hotel not only keeps its own bee colonies but that there is also an orchard with around 70 trees in the hotel grounds, where apples, cherry plums, morello cherries, nashi pears, mulberries and other fruit are grown that are harvested and turned into tasty desserts for the guests. The bees provide aromatic honey that is used in the kitchen and also on offer at the breakfast buffet, and the various vegetable varieties and fresh herbs from the hotel's own kitchen garden find their way into the pots and pans of the passionate kitchen team. "We try to use as many home-grown or regionally produced ingredients as possible. For example, we often pick mushrooms in the woods nearby," says Sten. 

 

The "Dorotheenhof" kitchen creates fantastic dishes from the vegetables and herbs from the hotel's own garden. ©Florian Trykowski, Thüringer Tourismus GmbH

However, the Dorotheenhof is also an attractive holiday destination besides the gourmet creations served to its guests in the hotel's in-house restaurants "Kalckreuth" and "Roter Salon". It's a mere eleven minute drive from the yellow-painted, ivy-covered hotel to Weimar's historic town centre. The town where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Franz Liszt and Friedrich Nietzsche lived and worked, once upon a time. However, apart from its close proximity to the town and cultural events, the hotel "Dorotheenhof" above all impresses with its close proximity to nature. The park and the garden are still at the heart of the grounds, an 18th century farming estate later owned by a cavalry captain named Kalckreuth and his wife Dorothea – the inspiration for the hotel's name – to this day. In the idyllic landscaped grounds, guests can go for leisurely walks beneath old beech, chestnut and linden trees, read a good book in one of the small garden pavilions or get comfortable on one of the generously-sized recliners and enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. Inside, the hotel is also characterised by an atmosphere of cosy comfort. Velvet-covered easy chairs, high-quality fabrics and warm earthy shades create a truly welcoming ambience both in the public spaces as well as the guests' bedrooms. Look out of the Georgian bar windows, and all you can see is the green of the surrounding countryside. 

 

What you can experience in the region

The Ilmtal valley cycling route

Entlang der Ilm geht es vorbei an Burgen und Schlössern – mit einem Rad des hoteleigenen Fahrradverleihs. Ein Picknick im Park Tiefurt bei Weimar lässt sich ideal mit der Tour verbinden. Hier liegt der Landsitz von Herzogin Anna Amalia.

More about The Ilmtal valley cycling route

If you want to do more than just read and relax, you'll appreciate the chance to go on a cookery course taught by none other than your host Sten Fischer. He is happy to share his expert knowledge of the Thuringian cuisine, and his most secret hacks and tricks. "When I hold the courses, I particularly enjoy showing the guests how the locally grown, seasonal products can be used to create a wide range of dishes," says Sten, as – how could it be otherwise – all of the ingredients used on the cookery courses are also sourced locally. Who knows, maybe, even the honey produced by the busy Dorotheenhof bees might turn up in some of the dishes.

Headerfoto: ©Carlo Bansini, Thüringer Tourismus GmbH

Foto Infobox: ©weimar GmbH