Rosi Lemke does not want to talk about dying in taverns, she emphasizes that. The 48-year-old sits at the regulars’ table in the dining room at the Höherwirt in Frauenneuharting, whose host she has been since 2019. The coming Sunday and Monday will be the last two days on which the Höherwirt warmly welcomes everyone who has come to love the homemade cakes à la Rosi, bottled beer and the rustic, cozy atmosphere of the restaurant. “Our regular opening times will no longer exist for the time being because I’m retiring as a landlady,” says Lemke. “But that didn’t kill our economy.” Because you can still rent the Höherwirt for private events, and on special occasions such as Father’s Day, the tavern even wants to open regularly – so far the plans so far.
Lemke comes back into the living room from the kitchen, puts two glasses of water on the table and sits down. she sighs. “Corona put a spoke in my wheel.” It’s not that the economy has been bad since it reopened – in fact the opposite is true. The summer was long and sunny, and the beer garden was packed on some days. “Then there were a good 60 guests,” says Lemke. “But that’s just not possible anymore.” Because the 48-year-old served everyone alone, only in the kitchen did she have support from 74-year-old Rosi Weigl, Lemke’s mother and wife of Hans Weigl, who opened the Höherwirt in 1999 – just like that. Things went well for two years, then the trade office knocked on the door and the economy had to close. But in the same year, the Höherwirt was back, this time officially with a limited liquor license – that’s why drinks there have always been bottled.
There are four tables in the cozy dining room – the existence of the inn dates back to the 15th century and is a listed building.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Lemke has been looking for a waitress for a long time. She didn’t find any. Why? The 48-year-old cannot explain that. Perhaps this is also due to Corona – many who had previously earned something extra by working as waiters have looked around for other mini-jobs. But maybe it’s also due to the remoteness of the Höherwirt – as a guest a wonderful destination, but as an employee the commute to work could become quite annoying after a while.
In addition, there is the economic risk, which continues to increase – Corona has not just disappeared, inflation is now on top of it. “There is always this uncertainty about what the future will bring,” said Lemke. Does the gastro have to close again? Are there new rules? Are the guests staying away because of inflation?
Rosi Lemke allows herself a single day off
That’s why Lemke has been working part-time in a butcher’s shop since the summer. As an employee, she can count on a fixed salary, which is very important to her as a mother of two children. Since then, however, she has only had one day off per week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she works in the butcher’s shop, on Fridays and Saturdays she’s shopping, baking and getting things ready for the evenings when the inn is often rented out for private parties, and the same thing again on Sundays and Mondays, because the Höherwirt is open normally.
The beer garden in front of the inn is packed in summer when the weather is nice.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
“For me as a landlady, there is much more to the economy than meets the eye,” says Lemke. This has often led to the fact that she was confronted by guests with their lack of understanding. For example, when she ruptured the capsule in her hand – how could she have served 60 people with just one good hand when it can hardly be done even with two hands? So the higher landlord stayed closed. And complaints about it came promptly. Just like the two weeks in September when Lemke didn’t open because she was on summer vacation. Or when it stayed closed because she was sick in bed with Corona.
Incidentally, the inn is not called “Höherwirt” because the host family is called “Höher”, but because of the district of “Hoherberg” near Frauenneuharting, in which the inn is located.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Despite all this: Rosi Lemke is a landlady with passion. The many regular guests who always understand – they have grown dear to her. When she thinks about the last two regular opening days, she gets “anxious and scared,” as she puts it. She sighs again. The decision was not easy for her. If she had found long-term staff. If it wasn’t for Corona. If everything hadn’t gotten more expensive – perhaps things would have turned out differently.
“It’s my very personal decision,” she says. “I like being a landlady – but I also don’t like to just work all the time anymore.” She got her motorcycle license last summer. Lemke is happy that she will soon have more time for her new hobby. And she probably won’t be gone completely, even if she’s no longer the hostess. And not just because the 48-year-old lives opposite the economy.
The last regular opening days are on Sunday, November 27th and Monday, November 28th, from 2 p.m. Information about future special opening times is available Instagram and Facebook.