Nearly a year after my celiac disease diagnosis, it was time to tackle a few more countries for the first time as a gluten-free traveler, as we set out on a train trip through nine cities in five countries. After Belgium was Germany — and while I certainly expected gluten-free life in Germany to be more difficult than where I live in Spain, I was hoping it would at least be on par with Belgium.
It wasn’t.
Germany actually turned out to be the most difficult country for eating gluten-free of the entire trip, and that goes for all three of the German cities we visited. Our time in Germany took us to Cologne, Heidelberg, and Tรผbingen — and while I recognize that these aren’t the biggest, most international cities with a huge number of tourists like you might find in Berlin or Munich, at least Cologne and Heidelberg seem like they should be popular enough for a few more gluten-free options.
Usually, in my gluten-free city or country posts, I provide maps and a list of restaurant recommendations, but I honestly feel like the options were so few that I can’t even do that. ๐ So this will be more about surviving being gluten-free in Germany.
Why Is Germany Such a Tough Place To Be Gluten Free?
When you think about German cuisine, what comes to mind?
For me, it’s pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel, and beer. And pretty much all that stuff contains gluten.
But while those foods may be an important part of their cultural tradition, I don’t really accept that as an excuse. Look at Italy — as pizza and pasta lovers, when they realized how many people are celiac in Italy, their solution wasn’t to say “too bad, eat something packaged from the store.” Instead, they consciously began increasing the diagnosis rate by regularly screening schoolchildren AND created a whole industry around gluten-free Italian cuisine, which made food more inclusive for celiac locals and travelers alike.
In Germany, I’m not sure if it’s lack of awareness, stubbornness, or something else. But there were very, very few restaurants that offered gluten-free options, and very few staff members who were knowledgeable about celiac disease, cross-contact, or “safe” practices.
Gluten-Free Food Labeling in Germany
The one saving grace of being gluten-free in Germany is that in the European Union, gluten is legally considered an allergen, so it is mandated to be labeled on any food packaging.
Unlike in Spain, where almost everything gluten-free says “Sin Gluten,” I don’t think I ever saw “Glutenfrei” on the front of a label in Germany. Instead, you’ll need to find the ingredients section of the label and scan for these phrases:
- cereals containing gluten: glutenhaltiges Getreide
- flour: Weizenmehl
- wheat: Weizen
- rye: Roggen
- barley: Gerste
- oats: Hafer
- may contain traces of: Kann Spuren vonโฆ
If you don’t see any of those words, then it should be safe to eat unless you have reason to believe otherwise.
Where To Find Gluten-Free Food in Germany
We hardly ate at any restaurants in Germany (except for a few that were 100% gluten-free, and we returned to those places over and over again). Most of the time, we went to grocery stores to get things like yogurt, cheese, and salami, which I would then eat in the hotel room.
However, there are certain grocery stores that have dedicated gluten-free sections with gluten-free food brands you may be familiar with — Schรคr, for example.
One thing I think is cool about Schรคr is that they have different offerings based on the country you’re in. In Ireland, they have fluffy white sourdough bread; in Spain, they have magdalenas. In Germany, they have pretzelbread! Of course, you’ll also likely come across other German and European gluten-free brands. Just watch out for oat flour (Hafer/Hafermehl) if you don’t eat oats.
While the pre-packaged stuff is usually pretty carb-heavy, breads and crackers and things like that, it can make a good companion to the cheese and salami you’re getting from the regular section of the grocery store. ๐
Here are a few stores to look for gluten-free sections:
- REWE (grocery store)
- Tegut (grocery store)
- Mรผller (drugstore)
- DM (drugstore)
What About Gluten-Free Beer in Germany?
I was pleasantly surprised by the gluten-free beer selection in Belgium. Can you blame me for thinking that Germany might be at least as good — if not better?
It turns out that Germany is SO serious about beer, that you can’t mess with the legal definition of beer by modifying it to be gluten-free. The Reinheitsgebot, or “purity order” was established in Bavaria in the year 1516, and it mandated that the only ingredients allowed in beer were barley, hops, and water. This law prevailed for centuries, though the modern version now allows malted grains, hops, water, and yeast.
So, still nothing celiac-friendly!
And some of the ingredients that gluten-free beer drinkers might be used to — such as sorghum, corn, and rice — are strictly forbidden by the Reinheitsgebot.
All this to say that you are unlikely to find any gluten-free beer in Germany, especially in bars or breweries. Even alcoholic cider from Ireland or the UK was tough to find. However, we were able to find two GF beers in one grocery store in Heidelberg, Tegut (one of the ones mentioned above), and we bought a bottle of each.
One was Neumarkter Lammsbrรคu Glutenfrei, and the other was Bitburger Helles Lagerbier Glutenfrei. These ARE brewed under Reinheitsgebot laws, which means their original ingredients inherently contain gluten. But after removing the gluten proteins, the final products are certified by the German Celiac Association and the Association of European Celiac Societies with the Crossed-Grain Trademark, which I personally have decided to trust. If you’re not comfortable with that, then you’ll want to skip beer in Germany altogether.
A Few Gluten-Free Restaurants in Germany I Can Recommend
In each of the three German cities we visited, I was able to find at least one place to eat. Here are a few recommendations!
Cologne: Restaurant Feinkostladen Cafe Der Tiroler
This was our first meal in Germany on the trip, and I’m SO glad we found this little place! Technically, it’s Austrian food, but I took what I could get. ๐
There were two options that could be made gluten free: The Kasspรคtzle, and the Kaiserschmarrn. Kasspรคtzle is savory, like a big bowl of cheesy noodles, and the Kaiserschmarrn is a dessert. I went with the Kasspรคtzle and it was DELICIOUS!
I wasn’t sure whether she was the owner, but we were attended by Valerie, and she was a one-woman operation cooking all the food as well as waiting the few tables in the restaurant. When I asked her about the Kasspรคtzle being gluten-free, she told me I didn’t need to worry about cross-contact: she uses a clean pan, clean water, and doesn’t use shared utensils. I was super thankful for her!
Restaurant Feinkostladen Cafe Der Tiroler in Cologne
Cologne: Isabella Glutenfreie Patisserie
This is a chain with nine dedicated gluten-free cafes around the country, so besides Cologne, if you’re in Aachen, Dรผsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, or Stuttgart, make sure you stop by.
When I went, I thought it would only be a bakery, so I was pleasantly surprised to see they had other breakfast/brunch/lunch items as well. Matt and I shared a small plate and a big plate for breakfast.
Later in the day, I came back a bit before closing because I couldn’t find anything else nearby to eat. I ordered a quiche lorraine, and after scarfing it down, I asked for another. I told the waiter I was so hungry because it’s tough to find gluten-free food in Cologne, and he brought me a little macaron for dessert, on the house. ๐ฅฒ
Heidelberg: Rada Arepa
We ate at this 100% gluten-free arepa restaurant three times — once each day we spent in Heidelberg. It’s obviously not traditional German food or anything, but it is tasty and filling when not much else is safe! They also have a cafe next door which I believe is also dedicated gluten free, but we didn’t end up going there.
The owners/staff members at Rada Arepa are Venezuelan so I spent some time chatting with them in Spanish. Keep in mind that it can get busy, especially during the lunch rush during tourist season, so don’t put it off until you’re starving unless you want to be hangry!
Tรผbingen: Schmรคlzle Fleischwaren
Not technically a restaurant but probably one of Tรผbingen’s best options for a gluten-free hot meal! It was an unexpected find that I definitely recommend.
Basically, this is a shop that sells pre-packaged refrigerated meals for people to grab as quick lunches or dinners, with the option to take it to go, or eat there in the store. The best part was that every item was clearly labeled with allergens — which again, is a requirement in Germany!
Matt and I went in and immediately started picking up different items and trying to translate the labels. When the staff members saw us doing so, they came to ask if they could help with anything. I told them about my “gluten allergy” and they started helping us read labels to tell us what was safe. Most labels said “may contain traces of mustard, soy, and celery.” I chose a container of pulled pork and some potatoes — two dishes for about โฌ7 total, and enough to eat half for lunch and half for dinner!
If you want, they’ll heat it up in the microwave for you for an extra 50 cents. One potential thing to be careful of: they poke holes in the plastic film before putting it in the microwave. You might want to ask them to use a clean “poker” to make sure there’s no cross contact with other foods they may have poked that day, but it seemed pretty clean to me. Anyway, this is probably the best place for a celiac in Tรผbingen!
Schmรคlzle Fleischwaren in Tรผbingen
A Few Other Notes on Being Gluten Free in Germany
Just a few more random thoughts on things to keep in mind before you visit Germany as a gluten-free traveler.
โข Celiac disease doesn’t seem super well-known in Germany. Therefore, asking about things like cross-contact is probably going to get you a puzzled look and an unclear response. But if you end up needing the German word for celiac, it’s Zรถliakie.
โข In many cities in Germany, the locals speak almost perfect English, so you shouldn’t have too difficult of a time communicating your needs. Usually in these posts I have a whole section about what to say in different languages, but I’m not sure it’s needed in Germany, lol.
โข Besides my honeymoon through Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea that I took two months post-diagnosis, I had not had any gluten-related meltdowns while traveling. That all changed when I went to Germany! In Heidelberg, not a single ice cream shop was willing to accommodate me with safe ice-cream scooping practices (iykyk) despite most of them offering GF cones and lots of good reviews on FindMeGF. It sucks getting rejected again and again, especially when you’re on vacation. Especially when it’s a heatwave and all you want is ice cream! And even after spending 15 minutes scouring labels on every ice cream in the grocery store, every single one said “may contain traces of gluten.”
โข Oat milk is an incredibly common and popular addition to coffee when you’re in coffee shops — but it is almost NEVER gluten-free. At some point I stopped asking whether it was GF because the answer was always no. It will be safer to just order an Americano with milk on the side, but be sure to ask for the milk to be cold. Otherwise they might still use the (contaminated) steamer to give you a little cup of hot milk. Also, be clear in your pronunciation: โcold milkโ can sound a little bit like โoat milkโ!
This concludes my thesis on why Germany is the toughest European country I’ve experienced as a celiac so far. But let me know what other questions you have about being gluten-free in Germany, especially in Cologne, Heidelberg, and Tรผbingen! Iโd be more than happy to do my best to answer — and feel free to follow me on FindMeGF as well. ๐
-Cathy
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