Manuel Stirn did not hesitate long.
After all, “it is a stroke of luck to be able to buy a cultural monument,” says the Wiesbaden entrepreneur.
And when Klaus Bochmann put the Gray House in Winkel up for sale, after a moment's consideration, Stirn took it.
That was at the end of April, and a good six months later the long period of suffering of the stately ensemble on Graugasse finally seems to be over.
Forehead, with a lot of passion and capital, continues in the Rheingau what the sixty-seven-year-old in Wiesbaden started decades ago with the “truffle”, but has since passed on to his daughter and son: an appealing mix of delicatessen, bistro and restaurant.
Only one hotel is not included.
Oliver Bock
Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis and for Wiesbaden.
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Stirn knows the Gray House from a time when it belonged to Erwein Graf Matuschka-Greiffenclau, who in turn was a regular customer at “Trüffel” in order to regularly stock up on delicacies. There are many legends about the Gray House. But behind most of them, the former President of the State Monuments Office, Gerd Weiß, put big question marks at one of the first events in the Gray House. The fact that the Archbishop of Mainz and polymath Rabanus Maurus is said to have resided in the Gray House as early as the 9th century, for example, should be forgotten, says Weiß. And that it is actually the oldest inhabitable stone house in Germany also seems doubtful.
The great fire of 1964, which at that time offered the opportunity to examine half-charred logs dendrochronologically and finally to date them to around 1075, did at least shed some light on the history of the building. For Weiß it is certain that the house was built “in the 11th or 12th century”, presumably by the “Lords of Winkel”. Its current shape is also a result of the reconstruction from the 1960s. Soon afterwards, the Graue Haus was a well-known star restaurant with Egbert Engelhardt as head chef.
But after the suicide of Erwein Graf Matuschka-Greiffenclau in 1997, troubled times began for the house.
There were changes of ownership and the operators came and went.
The house last changed hands in 2013.
The Bochmann couple took over and renovated.
But in the summer of last year, the private Bochmann Foundation had to admit the failure of its ambitious plans to establish an academy in the cultural monument.
Brigitte and Klaus Bochmann bought the house after years of vacancy and unsuccessful attempts at revitalization and renovated it for a substantial sum in coordination with the preservation authorities.
However, it did not find a new, sustainable use.
Hardly more than 40 seats
Now it is Manuel Stirn's turn, and the Wiesbaden entrepreneur gives the impression of knowing exactly what he has gotten himself into in the Rheingau. Similar to the Wiesbaden “truffle” recipe for success, there is a delicatessen department that sells around 70 percent of the “truffle” range in the state capital. A small bistro invites you to linger, a restaurant for lunch or dinner with contemporary "crossover" cuisine based on selected ingredients. Economically, however, the small number of hardly more than 40 seats could be a hindrance. Forehead hopes that he can perhaps come to an agreement with the monument and building authorities on an extension to the winter garden.
In summer, the garden and terrace are to be used for gastronomic purposes in the style of an estate tavern.
Oestrich-Winkels Mayor Kay Tenge (non-party) is happy that life has now returned and that the Graues Haus cultural monument is now open to the public.
The city wants to do its part and will set up a tenth branch of the registry office in the walls.