Dresden's tiled dairy hall and Munich's open market are two ways of selling the same Alpine cheese. Dresdner Molkerei Gebrüder Pfund runs the Gebrüder Pfund dairy on Bautzner Strasse, opened in 1880 in a tiled hall. Baldauf Käse ages Allgäu mountain cheese and Emmental from a 19th-century family dairy. Viktualienmarkt gathers 140+ stalls of fresh produce, cheese, Bavarian specialties. Allgäu mountain cheese is sold by weight from the wheel; a wedge cut in front of you keeps its rind, a pre-wrapped one sweats in the bag. The Pfund hall is worth the detour for the tiles alone; the cheese counter is the excuse.
Five Elephant opened in December 2010 on a side street in Kreuzberg, built from the start around a combined concept: specialty coffee paired with a bakery program rather than pastries as a secondary add-on to a coffee menu.
Best for Direct-trade single-origin coffee paired with the café's signature New York cheesecake
Five Elephant opened in December 2010 on a side street in Kreuzberg, built from the start around a combined concept: specialty coffee paired with a bakery program rather than pastries as a secondary add-on to a coffee menu. The café has grown to four locations across Berlin, each carrying the same dual identity.
On the coffee side, Five Elephant sources direct-trade single origins, buying in a way that connects the roastery more directly to producers than a broker-based supply chain would. On the food side, its New York cheesecake has become a signature item specific to the café rather than a generic pastry-case offering — an unusual pairing for a coffee roastery to be equally known for.
Starting on a Kreuzberg side street and expanding to four Berlin sites over more than a decade suggests steady, format-consistent growth rather than a rapid multi-city rollout. For a Berlin coffee scene with several strong single-origin roasters, Five Elephant's cheesecake gives it a second, distinct reason to be a destination beyond the cup.
The Gebrüder Pfund dairy on Bautzner Strasse, opened in 1880, whose interior of hand-painted Villeroy & Boch tiles earned a Guinness record as the world's most beautiful dairy shop. The counter sells cheeses, regional dairy, milk-based cosmetics and souvenirs, with a small bistro on site.
Best for Cheese and regional dairy in a tiled hall
Lydia's organic patisserie near Kiel hand-makes pralines, cheesecakes, and delicate tortes using certified organic (EU Bio) and Fair Trade ingredients, and teaches the same techniques through its own Pralinen-Schule video courses. The workshop and online shop, at Neukoppel 24 in Achterwehr, also sells the chocolate, baking tools, and praline molds behind its confections.
Gebr. Baldauf has made Allgäu mountain and Emmental-style cheeses from a family dairy in Goßholz, part of Lindenberg im Allgäu, since 1862. The company runs its own cheese shop in Lindenberg itself alongside the Goßholz creamery and an online shop for its wheels and cured specialties.
Best for Aged Allgäu mountain cheese and Emmental from a 19th-century family dairy
Bernhard and Jutta Krötz run this working farm dairy from a homestead their family has occupied since 1965, on a site with a timber beam dated 1740 uncovered when the farm was relocated. They make speciality cheeses flavored with herbs from their own garden and sell directly from their farm shop and at the Friday market in Kempten.
Best for Farmhouse cheese with herb garden flavors
This dairy cooperative in the hamlet of Diepolz ages its Allgäuer Weißlacker for about twelve months from raw hay milk, producing the pungent, rind-washed cheese the region is named for. Beyond Weißlacker, the shop stocks hard and soft mountain cheeses, sheep's and goat's milk varieties, and regional extras like soups, sauces, and Allgäu schnapps.
This mountain dairy in Steibis produces original Allgäu cheese specialties and sells them fresh at its village shop counter, cut to order, with regular tours showing how the Bergkäse is made. The full range also ships across Germany through the online cheese shop.
Best for Cheese, Allgäu mountain cheese, Sennerei, dairy, regional
Olli Stich's Kaesemanufaktur in Marktoberdorf, at Meichelbeckstr. 45, matures and sells Allgaeu cheese specialities and fresh dairy products. It sells through a webshop and at weekly markets across the region, and brings its Kaesspatzen mobile to events.
Best for 45, matures and sells Allgaeu cheese specialities and fresh dairy products
Tannenhof is an organic Bioland grassland farm in Opfenbach whose on-site Hofladen sells cheese made in the family's own dairy along with other farm products. The working farm has been certified organic since 1992 and also offers holiday apartments.
This family dairy in Ruderatshofen makes Allgäu soft, hard, fresh and mountain cheeses, including certified organic Bergkäse. A 24/7 cheese vending machine, the Käs-Stube tasting room and an online shop round out the operation.
Best for Authentic Allgaeu artisan cheese and Bergkaese
Operating in Kempten since 2001, PurNatur is an organic grocer whose cheese counter rotates monthly specialties sourced directly from Allgäu dairies, spanning cow, sheep, and goat milk. The shop pairs its cheese selection with organic produce, bread, and a bistro serving daily lunch specials at its Kotterner Straße location.
The Schenk family works a 150-cow dairy and free-range hen operation in the Allgau village of Friesenried, selling A2 milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream alongside their own beef, sausage and wheat and spelt pasta. A round-the-clock vending kiosk and farm shop let neighbours pick up fresh eggs, honey and stewing hens straight from the yard.
Schönegger Käse-Alm turns daily-fresh Allgäu hay milk from local family farms into hard, semi-firm, soft, goat and sheep cheeses following traditional master-cheesemaker recipes. Its Buchenberg dairy shop lets visitors taste and buy the range direct, from mountain-style hard cheese to whey products and regional sausage.
Best for Allgäu hay-milk cheese, goat and sheep cheese, regional sausage
One of the last original Allgau dairies, Sennerei Bremenried has hand-made heumilch cheese from fresh hay milk for 125 years, processing milk daily including Sundays and holidays. Cheese, gift baskets, and butter can be bought at the Kaeslaedele shop in Weiler im Allgau or ordered through the dairy's online shop.
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