Where Gottfried Keller once liked to stop for a bite to eat is where you too can now feel at home.
Welcome to the new old Oepfelchammer. New because since 1 February 2019, it has had new landlords. And old because the Oepfelchammer remains fully aware of its rich cultural past. Since 1802, Number 12, at the Rindermarkt has been the place for people from all over Zurich to meet up and enjoy a warm, cosy atmosphere with exquisite cuisine and premium wine. One of our regulars – the great writer Gottfried Keller – liked it so much that he overslept on the day he took office as city clerk because he had been busy filling up his glass at our Oeli until well into the night. Still, it didn’t take ‘Göpfi’ long to get home as the author of ‘Der Grüne Heinrich’ (Green Henry) lived very near the Oepfelchammer. Even back then, people appreciated the fact that you can always get something good to eat and drink there.
Do you have a moment? The Oepfelchammer throughout history.
The name ‘Oepfelchammer’ is supposed to come from the fact that this is where the nuns from the neighbouring St. Verena Monastery stored their apples to dry. The building itself is over 650 years old and was for centuries a patrician house, in which venerable old families from the Zurich council lived, such as the Hentscher, Blum, Studler and Widmer families.
From the start of the 17th century to the 1890s, there was a bakery in the Oepfelchammer. It was a baker, Hans Kaspar Denzler, who then in 1801 acquired the right to run a pub on the property in order to be allowed to serve drinks. In those days and over the following decades, the Oepfelchammer was the stronghold of the Zurich liberals. Gottfried Keller – to this day the most famous writer to come from the ‘Zwingli city’ – also enjoyed a glass of wine (or two or three) on our premises.
In 1859, Johann Kaspar Körner took over the pub and ran it up until his death in 1892. Körner – the son of a pastor – loved to debate the history of the reformation and found a captive audience among the many students who frequented the Oepfelchammer.
At the end of the 19th century, women – widows in particular – also numbered among the Oepfelchammer’s publicans. The well-known widow Oehninger looked after the pub from 1894 to 1900. The regulars – professors, students, artisans and liberal-minded citizens – were now being joined by more and more artists.
Between 1906 and 1927, another widow put her stamp on the Oepfelchammer: it was the legendary Gertrud Bütler, ‘Aunt Trudy’, who installed an old German wine bar in the old room – today’s restaurant. The joy of music making had also arrived at the latest during her time there. Not an evening would go by without patrons singing their funny songs, wine glass in hand.
On 20 October 1950, the Baur-Keller family bought the Oepfelchammer and ran it successfully until 1959. Since then, the pub has had various different landlords and managers, the last of whom were Karin Henner, René Petzoldt and Boris, the unforgettable Chef de Service.
Since 1 February 2019, Thomas Trautweiler, Chris Gretener and Bendicht Stuber, all three of whom come from Zurich, have been the landlords of the Oepfelchammer and are proud to lead this traditional pub at the Rindermarkt into the future.
Not everyone is brave enough for the Oeli.
A low ceiling with sturdy beams, dark walls, long wooden benches and the whole place decorated all over with clearly carved names: That’s the Oeli, whose name stems from the many students over the last two centuries who have ‘oiled’ their vocal chords with wine so they can improve their singing. The oldest wine bar in Zurich is also the inner sanctum of the Oepfelchammer. It has not changed since 1801. And the law that states you can only carve your name into the dark wood of the Oeli if you pass the ‘Beam Challenge’ (PDF) and drink a glass of wine with your head upside down has also not changed. The name of Siegfried Dupont is also probably immortalised somewhere – a regular at the Oeli, who was known in the city as ‘the Baron’ during the 1970s. For 30 years, Dupont enjoyed four litres of white wine every evening in our wine bar. Then came his last appearance: ‘The Baron’ lifted his glass, made a witty toast and fell down dead, but happy.
In the Oepfelchammer it is easy to like specialities from Zurich.
The Oepfelchammer has a clear culinary focus: Here you can enjoy well-known – and partly forgotten – specialities from and around Zurich with a modern twist. (And that also means with one or two fewer calories.) We cook with seasonal products, which come from the city and region of Zurich wherever possible (and otherwise from Switzerland at the very least). Would you like a little foretaste of the delicacies you can expect to find here? Then have a look through our menu (PDF), currently full of spring specialities.
Your landlords in the new old Oepfelchammer.
Whether it’s in the elegant restaurant or in the rustic wine bar, Thomas Trautweiler, Chris Gretener and Bendicht Stuber have been serving here as the landlords of the Oepfelchammer since 1 February 2019. Thomas and Chris are both renowned Zurich restaurateurs; Bendicht, the third in the trio and a qualified trustee, takes care of the business side. All three are proud to be able to give fresh impetus to one of the oldest restaurants in the city, home to the reformer Zwingli, giving it a clear culinary profile.
The latest news from one of the oldest restaurants in Zurich.
Restaurant Oepfelchammer
Rindermarkt 12, 8001 Zurich
Email: reservation@oepfelchammer.ch
Opening hours:
Tuesday – Saturday
4pm – 12pm
