About Der Feinschmecker

Der Feinschmecker

Der Feinschmecker is a monthly German gourmet magazine published in Hamburg by the Jahreszeiten Verlag, part of the Ganske publishing group. Founded in 1975, it is Germany's leading journal of fine food, wine and culinary culture, addressing gourmets, restaurateurs, chefs and the hospitality industry with restaurant criticism, wine journalism, travel features and culinary reportage. The editor-in-chief is Gabriele Heins, and the magazine carries the ISSN 0342-2739. Its official website is feinschmecker.de. Its sold circulation stood at 52,761 copies in the first quarter of 2026 (IVW). In 2025, the magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary with a comprehensive relaunch under the motto "Feinschmecker-(R)Evolution".

Overview

Der Feinschmecker appears twelve times a year and is sold at newsstands and by subscription throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is the flagship gourmet title of the Jahreszeiten Verlag, the Hamburg-based publisher owned by the Ganske Verlagsgruppe, whose portfolio includes lifestyle, food and living titles. The magazine's five-decade run makes it one of the most enduring and respected voices in European food journalism.

The magazine's concept is culinary journalism at the highest level: restaurant reviews and rankings, wine coverage, chef portraits, culinary travel, recipes from leading kitchens, and reports from the world of fine food — from artisanal producers to the great wine regions. The tone is knowledgeable and passionate, addressing readers who take food and wine seriously, whether as professionals or as devoted amateurs.

The magazine's authority extends beyond its pages: the Feinschmecker Restaurant Guide and the Feinschmecker wine guide are among the leading German-language culinary reference works, consulted by gourmets planning their dining and by the industry itself. The guides' ratings — awarded after anonymous, independent visits — carry weight with chefs and restaurateurs, making the Feinschmecker brand an arbiter of culinary excellence. The magazine's Riesling Cup — a blind tasting competition for German Rieslings — is a fixture of the wine calendar, its results eagerly awaited by the wine world each year.

History

Der Feinschmecker was founded in 1975, in the decade when German culinary culture was awakening. The post-war years had been dominated by reconstruction and modest fare; the 1970s brought prosperity, travel and a new curiosity about food. The journalist Arne Krüger established the magazine's concept, creating a journal that would treat food and wine with the seriousness they deserved. Krüger's vision — that Germany needed a magazine for gourmets to match the great French and international food journals — gave the title its ambition from the start.

Through the following decades, the magazine chronicled the transformation of German gastronomy: the nouvelle cuisine wave, the rise of German chefs to international prominence, the rediscovery of regional cuisines, the wine renaissance in Germany's thirteen wine regions, and the emergence of a new generation of sommeliers, producers and restaurateurs. The magazine's restaurant criticism — independent, rigorous, unafraid — helped shape the standards of German fine dining, and its chef rankings and awards became coveted honours in the industry.

In 2025, the magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary with a comprehensive relaunch under the motto "Feinschmecker-(R)Evolution", expanding the magazine by around 50 percent more pages and renewing its design and editorial concept for the next half-century. The anniversary demonstrated the title's continued vitality in a changing media landscape — a half-century-old magazine investing in its future rather than resting on its heritage.

Content and Programming

Der Feinschmecker's content covers the culinary world in all its dimensions. Restaurant features present the great kitchens of Germany and the world, with reviews, rankings and portraits of chefs. The magazine's critics visit restaurants anonymously and independently, maintaining the credibility on which the title's authority rests.

Wine coverage spans Germany's wine regions and the great wine countries of the world, with tastings, vintage reports, producer portraits and buying advice. The Riesling Cup — the magazine's annual blind tasting of German Rieslings — is one of the wine world's most respected competitions, its results followed by producers, merchants and collectors. The competition's blind-tasting format and rigorous methodology have made it a benchmark for German Riesling quality, and winning estates display the honour with pride.

Culinary travel features take readers to the great food destinations: from the Basque Country to Tokyo, from Copenhagen's New Nordic scene to the trattorias of Italy. Recipes from leading chefs bring restaurant cooking into the home kitchen, while reports on artisanal producers — cheesemakers, butchers, bakers, fishermen — celebrate the craft behind fine food. The magazine's food journalism extends from the three-star kitchen to the village butcher, united by a passion for quality and authenticity.

Coverage and Audience

Der Feinschmecker is distributed throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, sold at newsstands and by subscription. Its sold circulation of 52,761 copies (IVW Q1/2026) reaches an audience of gourmets, restaurateurs, chefs, sommeliers and hospitality professionals, along with affluent food and wine lovers. Total readership was estimated at 580,000 (AWA 2022). The magazine's readers form the core of the German-speaking gourmet community: diners who plan holidays around restaurants, collectors who follow vintages, and professionals who shape the industry's standards.

The magazine's readers are educated, affluent and passionate about food and wine, with substantial spending on restaurants, wine, travel and gourmet products. For advertisers in the food, wine, hospitality, automotive, watch and luxury sectors, Der Feinschmecker offers access to one of Germany's most attractive audiences — readers whose lifestyle centres on quality and enjoyment, and whose purchasing decisions are guided by the magazine's trusted recommendations.

Ownership

Der Feinschmecker is published by the Jahreszeiten Verlag in Hamburg, part of the Ganske Verlagsgruppe. The Hamburg-based Ganske group is one of Germany's leading magazine publishers, with a portfolio spanning lifestyle, food, living and special-interest titles. The Jahreszeiten Verlag's name — "Seasons Publishing" — reflects its origins in lifestyle journalism attuned to the rhythms of the year. Within the Ganske group, Der Feinschmecker is the gourmet flagship, lending its authority to the group's food and lifestyle offerings.

The editor-in-chief Gabriele Heins leads the editorial team, continuing the magazine's tradition of independent culinary journalism established by Arne Krüger. Her leadership carries the title through its sixth decade, balancing the heritage of Germany's leading gourmet magazine with the innovation — the 2025 "(R)Evolution" relaunch — that keeps it contemporary.

Digital Presence

The magazine's official website at feinschmecker.de serves as its digital home, presenting restaurant guides, wine content, recipes and culinary news between monthly issues. The site extends the magazine's authority to the web, with searchable restaurant and wine databases that serve gourmets planning their next meals.

Der Feinschmecker is present on social media, where it shares culinary content, restaurant news and issue highlights with the food-loving community. Digital editions of the magazine are available for screen reading. The 50th anniversary relaunch in 2025 — the "Feinschmecker-(R)Evolution" with around 50 percent more pages — demonstrated the brand's commitment to print while developing its digital presence. In an era when restaurant discovery happens on smartphones, the magazine's combination of print authority and digital databases serves gourmets across both media.

The website field in this profile reflects the title's official online home. Founded in 1975 by Arne Krüger's vision and still published monthly from Hamburg by the Jahreszeiten Verlag, Der Feinschmecker has accompanied German culinary culture through half a century — from the awakening of the 1970s to the world-class gastronomy of today, always with the passion of the gourmet and the rigour of the critic, and with the appetite for the next fifty years.