He knew how to live and how to celebrate legendary parties: The Munich restaurateur Roland Kuffler passed away peacefully at the age of 83.
We look back on his life.
Munich -
If anyone knew the art of living, it was Roland Kuffler († 83)
.
He hardly neglected any pleasure and loved to share all of his joy in it.
When RK, as he was called internally in his gastro empire, invited guests to a party - whether it was a birthday, an anniversary or the traditional fish cocktail - then the delicately arranged plates in the hands of diligent servants flew out of the kitchen, and the flow of
bubbly
and wine seemed endless, while the boss communicated incessantly and with everyone, whether there were 50 or 500 guests, and whether you understood everything exactly from his Palatinate dialect or not.
RK embraced life as it happened, especially his wife Doris.
In general - Kuffler's Palatinate cradle in
Frankenthal
, she founded Roland Kuffler's path from the son of a building contractor to one of the greatest restaurateurs in the republic - with the characteristic openness, sociability and an almost stubborn persistence.
Almost a fairy tale.
Because even as a student in Heidelberg in the 1960s, Roland Kuffler didn't have the bars to party, so he and his fellow student Erich Kaub simply created places of his own where people would like to meet: pubs, cabarets and discos.
They soon turned night into day in every university town from Berlin to Vienna
- the name Tangente is legendary to this day.
Munich: Gastronom Kuffler leaves three children behind - they were his greatest happiness
And so one thing quickly came to another after Roland Kuffler's partner Erich Kaub had a beautiful sister, Doris.
She led RK in front of the altar 54 years ago, and she was a lifelong hostess at his side
, with her he was able to bring the art of life to new flowers - the three children Stephan (54), Catherine (50) and Sebastian (45) was and is the greatest happiness.
The summers were spent in
their own domicile in southern France
, the winters in Kitzbühel, while Roland Kuffler was constantly forging new ideas and expanding his empire - with countless restaurants, the wine tent at the Oktoberfest and his own hotel, the Palace.
In the meantime, the two sons have run the gastro empire alone since Roland Kuffler retired into private life in 2016 due to age and illness.
Kuffler was down to earth: on Sundays he used to go on gastro tours
What made Kuffler so successful was not soaring high, but his grip on the ground: on Sundays he used to go on a gastro tour across his Munich empire.
From the Mangostin to the Haxnbauer, the Spatenhaus, the Seehaus and the Hotel Palace to the inn in the Grüntal.
First, to try the homemade potato salad and, second, to check whether the toilet paper met the requirements for suppleness.
Besides, he kept the guests from staring holes-in-the-air and the employees from work in order to find out everything, but also everything.
That was the secret of success!
The former Wiesn landlord spokesman Toni Roiderer once paid his appreciation to our newspaper with no envy: “There are few people who have slept well like Roland.
He's clever, smart and prudent! ”And Wiggerl Hagn once remembered the skepticism of the people of Munich when Roland Kuffler from Palatinate applied for the Spatenhaus at the opera almost 40 years ago ... RK in Munich * became the epitome of
Bavarian -baroque way of life
.
His humor in all shades was unique - that also connected him closely to his son Stephan.
Celebrations with Munich society, celebrities and international stars
And in between - there were always festivals, big celebrations at which
Munich society, celebrities and international stars were
particularly fond of showing themselves, because that's where life pulsed, there it was a real pleasure.
Only the last few years - they were a
farewell to life on installments
.
The last time in the south of France last summer, the last beer for dinner at home in Grünwald a few weeks ago.
A special kind of dementia robbed Roland Kuffler of much of what he once was, but not of his lovable nature and his memory, until the end he was present and fought for his life and his loved ones as he was a fighter all his life.
On Tuesday morning, however, he had to submit - with his wife Doris and the three children at his side.
-Ulrike Schmidt
From student to restaurant size - a fabulous rise
What Roland Kuffler allowed himself to do in 1984 was a scandal:
a wine tent at the Wiesn, the largest beer festival in the world
!
The mayor at the time, Georg Kronawitter, even compared this with the fall of the West.
The waves have long since smoothed out, on the contrary, the Weinzelt has become one of the most popular tents of all.
At that time, Roland and Doris Kuffler met with their business partner, who later became President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, Dr.
Luckily, don't let Erich Kaub (brother of his wife Doris) be put off.
Kaub and Kuffler
knew better anyway: Both met while studying in Heidelberg and quickly realized what the students really lacked, a place to party and drink.
One pub turned into many called Tangente, Tangente Jour, Parabel (in Munich on Trautenwolfstrasse) and a few beat clubs all over Germany and even in Austria.
In 1968 they moved to Munich.
Here they founded the
Wurstkuchl
, a chain.
Later the Haxnbauer, the Spatenhaus an der Oper (1982), the Seehaus, the Asian Mangostin, at times the Menterschweige and of course the Oktoberfest tent, the crowning glory for every restaurateur.
After separating from Kaub, Kuffler got into business with Gerd Käfer
After separating from Kaub, Kuffler tied up with Gerd Käfer on business, and the two of them let Wiesbaden and Frankfurt (including the Alte Oper, airport) shine culinary.
In 2002 the
Kuffler Group
took over the
Hotel Palace in Munich and turned it into a 5-star boutique hotel.
There were also financially less lucrative projects, such as the 450-seat Kuffler California Kitchen restaurant in the Palais an der Oper, the former main post office.
Son Stephan Kuffler, who now runs the business with his brother Sebastian, admitted that it was not worth it.
With an alleged 123 million euros in annual sales, the Kuffler Group
with 30 restaurants and 850 employees is fortunate enough to get over it.
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