Star chef Heinz Winkler from Aschau.
© Hans Gerlach/OVB (archive image).
Aschau im Chiemgau – Great sadness in Chiemgau and in the world of cooking: Star chef Heinz Winkler from Aschau im Chiemgau is dead. He died on Saturday night (October 29) at the age of 73.
Winkler was on Friday night (October 28) collapsed in his house in Aschau im Chiemgau and then taken to the hospital in Rosenheim by the emergency doctor. rosenheim24.de had already reported on this. Because his health deteriorated rapidly afterwards, Winkler placed in an artificial coma. The Bild newspaper claims to have learned that the star chef a multiorgan failure had been diagnosed. “He is closer to death than life,” said relatives on Friday evening. The life-support machines were switched off on Saturday night, as has now been confirmed by the closest family circle.
Winkler received numerous awards
Heinz Winkler was born on July 17, 1949 in Brixen in South Tyrol as the youngest of eleven siblings in a family of mountain farmers. His mother died when he was three years old. When Winkler was 14 years old, he began an apprenticeship as a cook in Bozen – the start of a great career. He later worked in various hotels and restaurants in Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland for a total of seven years. In 1973 he became head chef of two hotels in the posh ski resort of St. Moritz. After that he worked for a year with world-class chef Paul Bocuse.
In the year In 1978, Winkler succeeded Eckart Witzigmann in the Munich restaurant Tantris and managed it until 1991. Among other things, he was named “Chef of the Year” and defended his second Michelin star. In 1981 the restaurant was even awarded three Michelin stars. Winkler kept the three stars until his departure in 1991.
Working in Chiemgau since 1991
Exactly in this year Winkler came to the Chiemgau – and has since been the owner and chef de cuisine of the Hotel Residenz Heinz Winkler in Aschau. The five-star hotel and two-star restaurant he bought in 1988 are considered as Winkler’s life’s work. Here, too, his restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars from 1994 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2008. This made Winkler the most awarded chef in Germany. Winkler is said to be responsible for the seven million financing loan for the star temple according to a report in the Bild newspaper paid off two years ago – shortly after his 70th birthday (ovb-online.de reported in detail).
winker leaves behind wife Daniela Hain and son Alexander from a previous marriage, who has worked as a restaurant manager in Aschau since 2012. His second son Manfred, who also comes from a previous relationship, died in 2013 after a stroke. Overall, the star chef, who according to media reports was already dreaming of retiring in Mallorca, was married three times.
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