In Munich there are innkeepers who advertise their place as a children’s café, put a box with toys in a corner of the guest room – and that’s it. The children are usually bored after half an hour and the parents are not particularly relaxed either. It’s different in the berry café, because there, if at all, the parents eventually get bored.
There are now three berry cafés on the outskirts of Munich, they are run by the agricultural company Hofreiter. One location is in the west of the city in Lochhausen, one in the east in Johanneskirchen and one in the north in Feldmoching. The concept is the same everywhere: there are dishes that use the berries from the surrounding bushes, plus lots of play attractions and cozy places in the shade.
In 1976, the Hofreiter family came up with the idea of offering a strawberry field for picking yourself in Affing in the Aichach-Friedberg district. The people of Munich liked it, more and more fields followed – and always new ideas. In 1998, the Hofreiters opened the corn labyrinth in Lochhausen, and in 2006 the first berry café in the west of Munich, with two more to follow.
What is there and how much does it cost?
At the entrance, visitors to the Beerencafé first have to pay admission: four euros for adults, 2.50 euros for children between three and 14 years of age. The good thing about it: Actually, each person only pays one euro; because the rest is a picking voucher. Guests can harvest fresh fruit from the huge raspberry or currant bushes, strawberry or blueberry plants and take them home.
There are berries everywhere in the café.
(Photo: Lisa Sonnabend)
The best and shadiest places are usually occupied quickly.
(Photo: Lisa Sonnabend)
There is garden furniture and parasols in the grass on the extensive grounds, and some guests settle down on picnic blankets, just like in the outdoor pool. Berry pancakes (9.10 euros) or berry muesli (5.60 euros) can be ordered at the counter from 10 a.m., along with a cappuccino (3.50 euros) or latte macchiato (4.10 euros). At a later hour, berry ice cream (two euros per scoop) and berry cake (changing offer) are mainly eaten. Very sugary, but at least a little bit healthy.
When the plate is empty, the younger guests in particular are drawn to explore the site. There’s a tractor that wants to be climbed on, a water playground that’s great for splashing around in, a straw bale maze that’s also great for playing tag, an activity course that’s exciting even for six-year-olds, and a bobby car race track between bushes, where children keep taking a break to snack on a currant.
On nice days, however, it can get quite hot because the attractions are in the blazing sun. It is advisable to take sun protection with you and to take breaks from playing.
You can also cool down in the berry café.
(Photo: Lisa Sonnabend)
Some playground equipment is a shaky affair.
(Photo: Lisa Sonnabend)
Who do you meet here?
On this sunny Thursday afternoon, the café in Lochhausen fills up quickly: parents, grandparents, young people, kindergarten children and even newborns come. The cars are lined up in the meadow parking lot, and a small line forms at the food counter.
At the weekend or during the holidays, a trip by bike is also an option: An attractive and not too strenuous tour leads from the city center via the Hirschgarten, Nymphenburg Park and Blutenburg Palace to the café. The berry cafés in Johanneskirchen and Feldmoching can also be reached by bike. But be careful that the strawberries don’t tumble out of the bike basket on the way home.
Beerencafé Lochhausen, Lochhausener Straße/corner of Purpurweidenweg. Beerencafé Feldmoching, Feldmochinger Straße 436. Beerencafé Johanneskirchen, Savitsstraße/corner of Stegmühlstraße. Open from May to September, daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. www.hofreiter/beerencafé/