History of the house

Our house is one of the oldest patrician houses and taverns of the Odenwald region. It is a late medieval “Burgmannenhaus” and was constructed around 1550. “Burgmannenhaeuser” are houses founded by noblemen to secure their influence in the cities. So-called “Burgmannen” were the inhabitants and defenders of these properties.

Temporarily it was the house of a tawer and presumably already in the 17th century it once was a tavern. The name “Zum Engel” was passed down, however, since 1886 it has been in the possession of our family and is known as tavern “zum Baeren”.

At dawn of the 20th century a butchery opened in the house, the business then was operated as "butchery and tavern". On the west side there is a newer, smaller extension of the building, forming a balcony with a shingled wall above. The slaughterhouse of the butchery was located in this extension and at the balcony a small secondary tavern "Zum Starenkasten" had its place.  When the direct sale of the butchery was closed down in 1957, the saleroom was converted into a dining room. The former entrance to this saleroom was on the east side. This can still be seen when looking at the jambs of the second door, into which a window was built. Until 1974 the house still was butchery as well as tavern. However, the products of the butchery were solely used to satisfy the in-house demands. The former slaughterhouse today serves as a preparation kitchen and the small secondary tavern "Zum Starenkasten" nowadays merely exists in memories.

Zum Baeren, Staedtel 8, Erbach im Odenwald