This morning Michelin announced the Michelin stars and Bib Gourmands 2012 for Germany. The Michelin guide for Germany will be on sale from 11 November 2011.


After having been appointed a "Rising Star" by Michelin for two consecutive years, Thomas Bühner's La Vie restaurant in Osnabrück has finally been awarded a third star. Unfortunately Nils Henkel's Gourmetrestaurant Lerbach in Bergisch-Gladbach has lost its third star.
With these mutations the number of three-star restaurants in Germany remains at 9, which is still  the largest number of three-star restaurants of any country in Europe after France. The other three-star restaurants in Germany are: Restaurant Bareiss in Baiersbronn, Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn, Amador in Mannheim, Aqua in Wolfsburg,  Vendôme in Bergisch-Gladbach, Waldhotel Sonnora in Wittlich, Schloss Berg in Perl and Gästehaus Erfort in Saarbrücken.

A record number of 10 restaurants have been awarded a second star, five of which are located in Berlin (2), Hamburg (2) and Cologne (1 ).
The North Frisian island of Sylt is also among the winners. With this new edition Sylt, which now has 3 two-star restaurants and 3 one-star restaurants, is becoming one of Germany's top culinary destinations. Sylt is a popular holiday destination for well-heeled Germans.

The total number of two-star restaurants in Germany now stands at 32 (23 in 2011).

The 2012 guide also sees a small rise in the number of one-star restaurants. No less than 23 restaurants have been awarded a star.  Germany now has a total of 208  one-star restaurants (205 in 2011).

With these latest additions Germany's Michelin success story continues and it once again confirms Germany's prominent position in the European fine dining scene. Since 2005 there has been no shortage of new stars in Germany and the growth of the number in two and three star restaurants is quite exceptional compared to other European countries.

The Bib Gourmand category (35 Euros) also shows a healthy increase. In the 2012 guide Michelin has awarded 78 restaurants (66 new entries in 2011) with this accolade. The total number of Bib Gourmand restaurants in Germany now is 431 (386 in 2011).

A full list of Germany's Michelin starred restaurants can be downloaded here MichelinGermany2012