Getting a lift in someone's car can have far-reaching consequences. The attractive Sabine from Munich was looking for a lift to her dairy college – and promptly found the man of her life. She had inherited her love of cheese from her father, who was the managing director of a large cheese factory. Larry Arango, the man who owned the car, comes from the sugar city of Palmira in Columbia and ha...
MONKEY 47 is now the proud guardian of Willy, a young chimpanzee. With the help of the Jane Goodall Institute, a dream has finally come true. Black Forest Distillers and its owner and founder Alexander Stein have fulfilled a long-held wish by becoming the lifelong guardian of Willy, a five-year-old chimpanzee, in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute. Since 26 March 2014, our adopted chimp has been living in the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation ...
At the age of just 23, Dr. Jane Goodall set off for Africa, where three years later, she lay the foundation for her impressive life’s work. Now aged 81, the prominent primatologist, environmentalist and UN Messenger of Peace has dedicated herself and her entire life to nature, animals and our environment. As early as 1960, she embarked on her ground-breaking field study observing chimpanzees in the wild, right at the beginning of wh...
When the makers of Monkey 47 had the idea of having a monkey sculpture made to honour outstanding individuals and deeds, it soon became clear that Axel Haberstroh was the right man for the job. The artist lives with his family in Basel and, like Monkey 47, is a product of the Black Forest with international influences. He was born in Schonach in 1963, surrounded by cuckoo clocks and winter sports. In his ...
Over a third of the 47 ingredients in Monkey 47 come from the Black Forest and are not among the typical gin spices, including wild hibiscus, sloe, elderberry, dog rose, hedge rose, acacia, chamomile, and blackberry. But not only lovers of good gin like the taste of these botanicals – bees also make a beeline for them. They are welcome guests at these plants and work hard in the name of propagation. Albert Ei...
Connections play an important role in the Black Forest. Whether it's combining a clock movement with the call of a cuckoo, marrying ham with the smoky, spicy flavor of the forest, or refining excellent alcohol with 47 selected botanicals – whatever people from the Black Forest bring together, it will withstand the test of time and become a successful brand. But how do you fix the famous cuckoo clock to the wall? Dr...
Bohemian Ram. Little Bumblebee. No, not pet names that aging married couples have for each other. These are just a few of the unusually archaic-sounding instruments that belong to the larger family of bagpipes. Scottish bagpipes are generally a familiar concept, but the Black Forest shepherd's pipe is less well known, although it was quite prevalent there at one time. When Helmut Moßmann gets out his bagpipes and hurdy g...
Just as gin is now superseding the rather soulless vodka, the good old record is also experiencing something of a revival. When the CD embarked on its global success story, the vinyl record disappeared from music shops everywhere. Only specialists sold them. Today, supporters of the humble record are on the increase. This was initially restricted to DJs and audiophiles, who claim to have a particularly keen sense of hearing ...
One man, one hotel, two concepts. Arnd Henning Heißen is the creative magician who has transformed ‘The Curtain Club’ and ‘Fragrances’ at The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin into places of extravagant indulgence with worldwide acclaim. Arnd Heißen is a regular guest at the award presentations organized by the trade magazine Mixology. In 2013, he was crowned Host of the Year, and in 2014, Mixologist of the Year. For 2015, his bar The Curtain Club took ...
Montgomery Collins, the forefather of Monkey47, spent his early years in India, which is what makes his gin so exotic. As the son of a diplomat, it is likely that he was in contact with a maharaja, although we can't be certain of this. At the time when he ran his "Wild Monkey" guesthouse in the Black Forest, however, he would have been able to meet a very ...
Word should have got round by now that our Master Distiller, Christoph Keller, has been embarking on his fourth annual search for that “specie rara” – a special ingredient for our Monkey 47 Distiller’s Cut, which is a limited edition of just 4,000 bottles that sets the hearts of barkeepers and gin enthusiasts racing with exhilaration whilst keeping our distiller in good spirits. You know – botanical curiosity, a desire to explore new sensory te...
Fruit That Brings You to Your Knees First they’re green, then white, and finally red – and thus ripe. Lingonberries are some of the tastiest produce of the Black Forest, although there are only very few people who really like to eat them raw. In their pure form, they taste bitter and will turn your mouth inside out, but once processed, they are a culinary delight and ideal with game or b...
Unmistakably associated with the Black Forest and a bestseller the world over – the cuckoo clock. At its best, it is an ambassador for traditional Baden handicraft; at its worst, a cheap imitation “Made in China”. Marking the hours with its unique melody, it projects a down-to-earth sense of home and hangs on the wall, ticking like an antagonistic timekeeper in a hypermodern world of communication. Christophe Herr describes himself as the la...
Few artists of their times have so many stories told about them as Martin Kippenberger. Ben Becker dedicated a song to him, a cleaning woman unwittingly cleaned one of his works, thereby ruining it, and the matter of whether or not you can see a swastika will always make you think of the artist who felt very much at home in the Black Forest. “He wanted to go right to th...
Germans love their clubs. If three people realize that they have something in common, there is a good chance that they'll soon establish a new one. The country is full of music and sports clubs, but German registers of associations also have some rather exotic clubs. Although the "Monkey Enthusiasts Club" is less about Monkey47 and more about chimpanzees and so on, young people in Ludwigsburg do celebrate ...