Hotel Traube Tonbach – the Black Forest's three-star dynasty

In 1789, Duke Karl Eugen von Württemberg granted the innkeeper Tobias Finkbeiner a licence to open a tavern for the Black Forest's forestry workers, and the Finkbeiner family has run the house in the Tonbach valley, just outside Baiersbronn, ever since. Eight generations later, Hotel Traube Tonbach has grown into a 153-room resort set among wooded hills, built around a culinary reputation unmatched in Germany: the Schwarzwaldstube holds three MICHELIN stars, the restaurant 1789 one, and the more relaxed Schatzhauser a Bib Gourmand. The MICHELIN Guide itself recognises the house with Three Keys, ranking it among six hotels in Germany to hold the distinction. What began as a roadside inn for woodcutters is now an address where guests return across decades, drawn as much by the quiet of the valley as by the kitchens that have made Baiersbronn a destination for serious eaters.

01The house

The house grew gradually rather than all at once. In 1957, Willi Finkbeiner, the sixth generation, opened a new guesthouse that was among the first in the Black Forest to offer rooms with bath and balcony, and that wing became the core of the hotel as it stands today.

Matthias and Sebastian Finkbeiner, representing the eighth generation, joined the management team in 2009, the same year the hotel brought its own combined heat-and-power plant online, a system that now covers around 65 per cent of its electricity needs. Today a team of around 300 people works across the property, a scale that explains why the Traube is often described as a training ground for the German hotel trade.

02Rooms and suites

The 153 rooms, apartments and suites range from compact single rooms with forest views to the spacious Grand Comfort and Premium categories, many with a balcony looking straight down the Tonbach valley. Since August 2026 a further set of rooms and suites has joined the roster, designed around light, comfort and the surrounding woods.

Insider tip

Reached via the B462 from Freudenstadt; closest cities are Stuttgart and Strasbourg, each under two hours away.

Suites start at 85 square metres, and the one-of-a-kind Panorama Suite, set apart in Haus Kohlwald, is the house's most requested address. Families are well catered for too, with apartments in both the main house and Haus Kohlwald offering separate sleeping areas for parents and children, plus a cot on request.

03Where to eat

Schwarzwaldstube, the hotel's flagship, opened in 1977 under chef Wolfgang Staudenmaier, and Harald Wohlfahrt took over the stoves in 1980. Since 1993 the restaurant has held three MICHELIN stars without interruption, the longest such run of any restaurant in Germany.

Torsten Michel, the kitchen's present chef, joined as a commis de cuisine in January 2004, aged 26, arriving with strong references from the Bülow Residenz in his native Dresden. He became sous chef in May 2007, and succeeded Wohlfahrt as head chef in 2017, keeping the three-star rating intact.

A fire in January 2020 destroyed the original Schwarzwaldstube building, forcing its demolition. The restaurant reopened in a temporary space called 'Temporaire' at the end of May 2021, and the newly built Schwarzwaldstube reopened on its original site on 8 April 2022, regaining its three MICHELIN stars that same year. By 2024 the restaurant also topped the worldwide La Liste restaurant ranking, alongside top marks in every national guide, with sommelier Stéphane Gass pairing each course from the Traube's own wine cellar.

The restaurant 1789 — formerly the Köhlerstube — is led by chef Florian Stolte and carries one MICHELIN star; the kitchen builds on seasonal ingredients sharpened with Eastern flavours. Schatzhauser, awarded a Bib Gourmand, keeps things more grounded, pairing Swabian-Baden classics and grilled steaks with a view straight down the Tonbach valley.

04The bar

The hotel bar opens from five in the evening in the panelled lounge off the main hall, pouring classic cocktails alongside creative signatures. In warmer months the Rosengärtle terrace takes over for lighter orders — ices, cakes and coffee under garden umbrellas, open daily until nine in the evening.

05Spa and wellbeing

The wellness area covers 4,500 square metres, fed by water from the hotel's own Tonbach Buschbrunnen spring. It includes a heated outdoor pool, an indoor pool, two further lap pools, three whirlpools and a children's pool.

The sauna landscape runs from a forest sauna and a sound sauna to an infusion sauna, an infrared cabin, a sanarium and a floral steam bath, with an ice igloo for the traditional plunge between rounds. A separate family wellness wing in Haus Kohlwald gives children their own sauna, steam bath and pool, with unaccompanied access from age fourteen.

06The neighbourhood

Baiersbronn-Tonbach sits a little over an hour's drive east of Strasbourg, roughly equidistant from Stuttgart and Freiburg, in a valley running straight into the Black Forest National Park. The old woodcutters' trails that gave the region its trade now double as the hotel's hiking routes, reached straight from the garden gate.

07Making the most of a stay

Beyond the table, the Traube runs a full programme of guided hikes through the northern Black Forest, daily sport and activity classes, and cultural excursions into the surrounding region. Two fixtures recur every year: a football camp run with Karlsruher SC, and dedicated swimming weeks for families.

The hotel's calendar also includes the Baiersbronn Classic, a historic motoring rally covering around 500 kilometres of the region's back roads. For guests who want the full culinary picture, the house bundles its kitchens into a 'culinary trio' package, combining a stay with dinners at 1789 and Schatzhauser alongside the hotel's own wellness programme.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.