Rare Fruit: Design Distilled in Southern Germany

Philipp Mainzer, the founder of Frankfurt furniture company e15, does minimalist glamor well; we especially like his design for the Stählemühle Distillery in Southern Germany.

Located on an 18th-century steel mill estate in Eigeltingen, near Lake Constance, the distillery is owned by Christoph Keller, a former art publisher who became enchanted with the idea of creating spirits from an array of rare fruits: greengages, damsons, russet apples, and myrobalans. Mainzer overhauled the public spaces, using an artful mix of rustic and modern elements. To see more of his design work, go to Philipp Mainzer.

Photography by Ingmar Kurth for Philipp Mainzer.

Above: Designed by Hans De Pelsmacker for e15, Main, the Tafel Bench is $8,560 at Hive Modern. Mainzer used raw smoked oak flooring with a soap finish in the tasting room; the cast-iron stove is original to the building.

Above: The Habibi Tray from e15 is available in stainless, polished brass, or polished copper.

Above: In the tasting room, Mainzer used exposed concrete on the walls and ceiling and installed new asphalt flooring. The metal shelving is backlit with LED lighting, illuminating the blown-glass bottles filled with liquors. The TA01 Ponte table and the BE01 Calle benches from e15 add warmth to the otherwise austere space.

Above: The Stählemühle Distillery makes more than 70 varieties of brandies and other spirits using rare and obscure fruits.

Above: A cut-out light box in the hallway adds a sense of airiness to an otherwise narrow space.

Above: The pristine production areas feature highly polished custom distilling equipment.

Above: A view of the distillery entrance.

Location of Stählemühle in Germany:

N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on May 4, 2012 as part of our Beyond Bauhaus week.