Following Milan Design week in April, Gaggenau assembled a distinctive group of design enthusiasts from across North America to participate in a journey through the Black Forest.

An installation at the Vitra Design Museum, featuring brightly colored chairs arranged like a spinning ferris wheel.

The three-day excursion began with a stop in Luzern for an incredible lunch at the MICHELIN One Star Lucide restaurant before continuing on to the Vitra Design Museum in the afternoon for a guided VIP architecture tour of the campus.

The Vitra Design Museum tour showcased the architectural works of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA. The afternoon was spent exploring design’s relationship to architecture and everyday culture, and ended with a private dinner on the Vitra Campus. The evening concluded with their arrival in the Black Forest at the Hotel Sackmann, a family-run business for over 90 years. Morning walks through the Black Forest and exploring the quaint hotel restaurant, Murgstube, provided a peaceful way to begin each day with hospitality that was unmatched.

A group shot in front of the Gaggenau factory, with its iconic blue enamel sign.

Experiencing how it all began…

The highlight of the trip was the Gaggenau Factory tour. The iconic blue enamel Gaggenau sign welcomed guests for an authentic German-style lunch, made in Gaggenau ovens, and served in the cafeteria. Following, guests were given a behind the scenes look at the impeccable craftsmanship of today’s products – seeing first-hand how a roll of metal transforms into an iconic oven such as the EB333. The nail forging atelier was another highlight of the brand experience with everyone getting the opportunity to create an authentic piece of Gaggenau history with their own hands.

Collage featuring an EB333 oven being assembled, as well as the Gaggenau blacksmith forging a nail in a shower of sparks.

The group returned to the Hotel Sackmann for dinner at the Panoramahütte, a rustic cottage at an altitude of 620 meters with breathtaking views of the mountains, an authentic meal and traditional German music. The dinner included Black Forest smoked trout tartare, wild garlic cream and fried brook trout. The main dish was beef filet with red wine jus and a Black Forest style cake with cherries and cream for dessert.

Collage featuring the Panoramahütte with its sprawling views of the Black Forest, the musicians, and guests having a toast.
Exterior of the beautiful Schloss Rastatt Residential Palace.

The final day began with a guided tour of the Schloss Rastatt Residential Palace, home of Gaggenau founder Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden. It is the earliest baroque residence on the Upper Rhine. Designed to display the might of the monarch, it features a grand courtyard, a golden statue of Jupiter brandishing a thunderbolt, and lavishly embellished interiors including the Ancestral Hall with frescoes depicting ancestors as well as figures depicting victories of war.

Collage featuring an extravagant painting gallery within the Schloss Rastatt Residential Palace, as well as a close-up of the portrait of Gaggenau founder Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden

The Schloss Eberstein hotel’s MICHELIN One Star restaurant, Werner’s, delighted guests with Baden-French gourmet cuisine for lunch which included wine pairings from their in-house vineyard along with hand-picked, fresh ingredients featured in tomato essence with ravioli, veal sirloin with sweetheart cabbage and potato dumpling and the “Eberstein Castle” — a signature dessert with a fresh interpretation of Black Forest cake. The gourmet restaurant allowed guests to relax, enjoy conversation and take in the panoramic views of the countryside.

As with so many stops along the way, the original Eberstein Castle has ties to Gaggenau—built in 1272 by the Count of Eberstein, it was then owned by Gaggenau’s founder, the Margrave of Baden-Baden, and remained within the family until the 20th century.

Collage showing an exterior shot of Schloss Eberstein, as well as the beautiful table setting

In the afternoon, guests visited the Unimog Museum in Gaggenau enjoying a private historical tour and all-terrain experience in an actual Unimog. In the 18th century, an industrial boom happened in Gaggenau leading to the growth of the new automobile manufacturing industry. Today, the museum pays homage to that history displaying five classic vehicles dating from 1894 to present day, including the oldest passenger car manufactured in Gaggenau, the Orient Express, which dates to 1897. Unimog today still stands for efficiency, flexibility and legendary off-road capabilities and is a testament to the quality of German engineering.

Collage depicting a late 1800's vehicle with "Gaggenau" written on the faceplate, as well as an image of a Unimog vehicle in action.
The exterior of the Hotel Sackmann

The final trip highlight was an 8-course tasting menu and wine pairing at the Hotel Sackmann’s MICHELIN One Star gourmet restaurant, Schlossberg. Chef Jörg Sackmann, the patriarch and owner of the Sackmann Hotel, created a culinary journey which began with an amuse bouche and included a Golden Egg of burrata truffle, goose liver, Black Forest salmon trout and pigeon with Pedro Ximénez vinegar sauce among other courses, finishing the exquisite meal with a rhubarb dessert and homemade petit fours. It was an incredible close to a journey intertwined with the industrial roots of Gaggenau’s past and the handcrafted innovation of today while highlighting artisans and regions pivotal to the Gaggenau story — a trip to create lasting memories and connections for the invited designers and architects.

Collage depicting some of the beautiful dishes served at the Hotel Sackman, and an image of chef Jörg Sackmann carefully preparing food for guests.

Photography by Felix Brüggemann