As of: January 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m
By: Vincent Fischer
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Kerstin Gößl and Vladimir Kloz run a special inn.
The innkeepers no longer serve alcohol.
A decision with an emotional background.
Hiltpoltstein – At the Gasthof zur Sägemühle many things are different than at other inns.
The operators Kerstin Gößl and Vladimir Kloz make no secret of this.
“Welcome to the
alcohol-free
restaurant Gasthof zur Sägemühle,” says the answering machine tape.
The website also expressly states: everything is alcohol-free.
“We have always been different,” landlady Gößl, who runs the restaurant with her husband Vladimir Kloz, tells our editorial team.
But the decision to stop serving alcohol from now on has an emotional background.
Emotional Facebook post: Koch goes into rehab and wants to “fight the demon of alcohol”
With an unusually open post on Facebook at the beginning of January, the couple gave the deepest insights into their private life - and announced a break of several days.
They have been running the restaurant in the small village of Großenohe (Forchheim district) in Franconian Switzerland since 2018.
“I apologize to all customers and friends and especially to my beloved wife Kerstin Gößl, to whom I owe infinite respect for her patience with me, for all the choleric moments,” writes Vladimir Kloz, who is a cook at the sawmill.
He will “win this fight.
And I will defeat the demon called alcohol,” announced Kloz.
He went to a rehab clinic and was happy to see his wife “sober again after seven years of delirium.”
On New Year's Day, the chef relapsed again.
“He was faced with a choice: either the ambulance came or the hearse the next day,” remembers Kerstin Gößl.
Kloz went to the clinic at his own request.
Innkeepers open again - but there is no more alcohol
The couple was now faced with a difficult decision under dramatic circumstances: “It wasn’t just about my husband’s health, but also about the continued existence of the business and, honestly, our marriage,” says Gößl.
The inn would have had to close for three months while Kloz was in rehab.
“Either we expose ourselves to the risk of my husband drinking again, or we drain everything and continue working,” says Gößl.
After another relapse on New Year's Day, chef Vladimir Kloz pulled the ripcord: he underwent withdrawal therapy.
Since then, there has been no alcohol at the Gasthof zur Sägemühle in Upper Franconia, which he runs with his wife Kerstin Gößl.
© Screenshot Facebook
The couple made their bold decision.
The restaurant has been open again since January 13th.
But different than before, because guests are now looking in vain for “real” beer on the menu.
Instead, there are non-alcoholic beers and wines from the region, juice spritzers, cold drinks and homemade lemonades.
There will never be alcohol again at the Gasthof zur Sägemühle.
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The reaction to this decision surprised the innkeepers.
“It caused quite a stir, we would never have thought that,” says Kerstin Gößl with a laugh.
There was a lot of support on Facebook, but also a small “shitstorm,” said the landlady.
Neither of them want to let this get them down: they are still consistently behind it.
(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you daily about all the important stories from Bavaria.)
Especially since business continues to go well.
“The guests respond very positively,” say the innkeepers, who consciously take a different approach: the restaurant serves gluten-free, lactose-free and partly vegan cuisine.
The visitors and regular guests quickly got used to the innovation.
“People come to us for food,” says Gößl happily.
This encouragement means a lot to the innkeepers.
Anyone who eats in a restaurant and cannot cope without alcohol during that time has a problem.
Landlady Kerstin Gößl
Both would like to use their decision to draw attention to alcohol addiction.
A topic that is unfortunately still relevant.
“Anyone who eats in a restaurant and can't cope without alcohol has a problem,” says the landlady.
Cyclists and hikers, who often find their way to the sawmill, shouldn't drink alcohol anyway, she thinks.
Horrifying figures: alcohol consumption remains high in Germany
7.9 million people aged 18 to 64 in Germany consume alcohol in a form that poses a health risk.
Problematic alcohol consumption affects around 9 million people in this age group.
In Germany, 19,000 women and 43,000 men died in 2016 from a cause of death that was solely attributable to alcohol.
On average, around ten liters of pure alcohol are consumed per head of the population every year.
Compared to previous years, there has been a slight downward trend in alcohol consumption.
Nevertheless, Germany remains in the top third in an international comparison.
The economic costs caused by alcohol consumption amount to around 57 billion euros per year.
Source: Federal Ministry of Health, Yearbook Addiction 2023
Especially since you can hardly get to Großenohe without a car.
“Someone always has to drive.
And there are no more discussions for us now.” This is not the only reason why Kerstin Gößl is completely satisfied with the joint decision.
After the low blow on New Year's Day, things are looking up again for the host couple.
(vfi)
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