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174 Onsite Interview: Exploring 500 Years of History at Auerbachs Keller in Leipzig, Germany

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If you are reading these show notes in a podcast player, click here to visit The Storied Recipe website and see the photo gallery of my private tour of Auerbachs Keller.

P.S. You might also be interested in this travel journal from when 6 of us spent 11 Days in Germany and this journal from Sebnitz, Gorlitz, and Leipzig.

Introduction

I have never had as much fun putting together an episode as I did with this onsite tour and interview of the famous Auerbachs Keller in Leipzig, Germany.

Auerbachs Keller will celebrate 500 years of continuously serving guests next year, in 2025.

What began as a small wine celler in the basement of Dr. Heinrich Stromer's home in 1525, became the inspiration to one of the greatest works of literature in the world (Goethe's The Tragedy of Faust), host to one of the most significant religious figures since Christ (Martin Luther), and has maintained close ties to one of the oldest and most influential universities in Europe, the University of Leipzig.

Join me on the tour (below) and listen in to my conversation with Mr. Bakhtari, a representative of the restaurant, who grew up in Morocco, speaks 6 languages, and had so much to teach me about the legends and history of the restaurant!!

Images from Private Tour of Auerbachs Keller with Mr. Bakhtari

The old town hall in the bustling Marketplatz just a stone's throw from Auerbach's Keller. The square is often filled, as it was this night, with a festive market.

Live music wafts through the open seating in the middle of the square. The tables are surrounded by stalls selling beer and sausages. The tower of this town hall has great significance to one of Auerbach Keller's most famous guests, Martin Luther.

In fact, it was on this exact spot in 1519 that Luther and fellow reformers debated in the Leipzig Disputation. Although far less famous than the dispute of Heidelberg in 1518, historians say it was after the Leipzig dispute that a split between the Roman Catholic Church and a new Protestant church was inevitable. This old town hall was built on the foundation of the Pleissenburg Castle where the great debate took place - and this very tower was preserved from the original castle.
Another iconic building in the bustling Marktplatz of Leipzig. Historically, merchants traded goods in this square. And, as they do to this day, there were stalls selling food.

It wasn't until the 1800s that owners at Auerbachs Keller realized that the waiters in their wine cellar were constantly running out to the nearby square to buy food for patrons - and all that money could stay in their establishment if they started a restaurant!
The Mädler Passage. Several stories high, covered in glass, and flanked with high end shopping, this passage covers the 500 year old space where Auerbach's wine cellar has always existed.
There were a steady stream of tourists taking photos of this sign (and its twin on the other side of the passage)!
These statues (this one and the one pictured in the next frame) flank the two staircases leading down into Auerbachs Keller from the Madler Passage. They feature scenes and quotes from Goethe's Faust, including this one, where Mephistopheles (a demon from German folklore) takes Faust to the famous restaurant.

You'll see Faust's left show (to your right, in the photo) is shiny from being continually rubbed for good luck.
The title of this statue is, "Students Bewitched by Mephisto".
The restaurant is entirely underground ("keller" = "cellar") with rich brown tones and warm lighting. Although now the main dining area, the Großer Keller (Large Cellar) was built most recently in 1913.

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The restaurant leans heavily on the Goethe/Faust connection!
Every one of hundreds (thousands?) of pieces of artwork in AK tells its own story. If I could go back and do the interview over again, I'd ask more about the range and value of the artwork in the restaurant. And I would happily pay for a lengthy tour of the artwork!
A painting of Rosalie Wagner, the sister of the famous German composer, as she appeared performing in the Tragedy of Faust. This was significant at the time, as men still generally played all parts in stage performances.
This particular piece of artwork ties together Auerbach Keller's connections to two significant historical figures: Goethe's Faust and Martin Luther. This painting imagines the meeting between Faust & the devil and Martin Luther & Melanchton (a fellow reformer to Luther). Dates suggest that the meeting is imagined by the painter.

While the men may never have met, every evening Auerbach Keller's dining area is filled with those who have a fascination with the devil seated side by side with those who revere the devout reformer, Martin Luther.

The painter recreated the Fasskeller room, which was my favorite room in the restaurant, and most similar to how the first wine celler looked.
Here it is! THE painting that ultimately bound the University of Leipzig, Auerbachs Keller, Faust, and Goethe together forever. The wood panel was painted in 1625 and depicts Faust, a historical figure around whom many legends swirl, miraculously riding a wine barrel out of Auerbachs Keller.

This painting deepened the legends around Faust and his relationship with the German demon, Mephisto.

Almost 150 years later, as a student at University of Leipzig, Goethe generally accepted as Germany's greatest contributor to world literature, frequented the already famous wine cellar. This very painting inspired his play Faust, A Tragedy.

The work is written almost entirely in rhyme, and cemented the legends of Faust and the fame of Auerbachs Keller.
A better view of the famous painting.
Faust on the barrel of wine. The black poodle in front represented the Devil.
Painted at the same time as the previous artwork, this panel depicts Faust with other carousers from University of Leipzig. Notice the black poodle is present in this painting as well.
A closer view of the black poodle.
When Luther was a man wanted by the Roman Catholic church, he traveled under great danger. His friend Heinrich Stromer von Auerbach promised him a safe place to stay. Today, one of the meeting rooms in the restaurant is named after Martin Luther. Listen to the episode for more details on the relationship between Stromer and Martin Luther.
A view from the Luther Room down into the famous FassKeller, or Barrel Cellar. From the large dining room, the private rooms get better and better as I went deeper into the cellars. To me, this upcoming room was the most amazing room of all!
The Fasskeller (Barrel Cellar). An absolutely unique sculpture hangs from the domed rounded ceiling, which is covered with paitings. A large barrel is at the head of the room and is designed to hold 3 types of wine at the same time.
One view of the sculpture "The Witches Broom" hanging from the ceiling in the Fasskeller.
Panoramic view of the domed ceiling and sculpture looking up from the floor.
The somewhat terrifying view of "The Witches Broom" from underneath, looking straight up at the ceiling.
The original sign (note the date of 1530) in the top left corner welcoming guests to Auerbach's Wine Cellar.
The barrel was specially designed to store 3 types of wine: red, white, and... I don't remember! 😉
Note the date of 1525 on the barrel. This is only marking the establishment of the wine cellar, not the date the barrel was constructed. The story of the barrel ride was first painted (as you saw earlier in the gallery) in 1625.
The small, short door into the "Witches Cellar". The inscription over the top is a quote from The Tragedy of Faust and it says, "Life! Margaret; Judgment of God, to you I have surrendered myself. Come, come! I’m leaving you with her."
The tiny Witches Cellar is opened to the public only once a year, when scenes from Faust are reenacted.

This witch greets one on the cramped staircase on the way down and its impossible to descend without brushing up against her.

Although the "secret tunnel" from Auerbach's wine cellar to the main buildings of the University of Leipzig no longer exist, this is the door that opened to the tunnel.
Centuries of candle wax....

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