The German haute cuisine union has been shaken by the news of the dismissal of the chef Christian Jurgensone of the few chefs who has three Michelin stars in Germany. The Überfahrt restaurant, where Jürgens had been working for more than a decade, has decided to fire the chef after accusations of harassment and humiliation that his former employees have publicly denounced.
Chef Christian Jürgens had been accused of committing sexist and racist harassment, abuse of power and humiliation for two decades. Almost two dozen former kitchen and dining room employees of the German restaurant Überfahrt claim to have suffered “grips between the legs and on the buttocks, unwanted hugs, racist and sexist nicknames and comments”, according to a preliminary report revealed by the German newspaper Der Spiegel after an investigation carried out for months by its journalists.
In this complaint, the employees describe the chef as manipulative, angry, sexist and invasive and claim that Jürgens even “repeatedly inquired about the sexual life of a young apprentice”. A former sommelier has accused Jürgens of “hit him”while another of the former workers claims in the report to have seen cry to your coworkers daily. Some of those affected say that “they still suffer from the experiences that sometimes happened years ago and have been undergoing psychotherapeutic treatment in the meantime.”
In 2008, chef Christian Jürgens took over the reins of the Überfahrt restaurant, located next to the lake tegernsee, an idyllic landscape that has become one of the favorite destinations for German tourism. Since 2013, the chef has been part of the exclusive group of chefs who treasure three Michelin stars in Germany, a recognition that he continued to defend until April of this year, when the Michelin Guide again awarded these stars to the chef and his restaurant. In addition, also in 2013, Christian Jürgens was chosen by the French restaurant guide Gault&Millau as “Chef of the Year”.
The restaurant rates the chef’s kitchen as a “creative adventure”. “With his team of 20 people, he transforms the best products from the Alpine region and the world into surprising menus”explains the restaurant’s website, which defines Jürgens’ cuisine as a mix between international cuisine and regional roots, expressed in a tasting menu that has a price of 196 euros per person.
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The chef Christian Jürgens, through his lawyer, has denied what he qualifies as “serious accusations”, calling them “false”. According to the cook, the events described did not occur “at any time”, something that, in his words, could be confirmed by “numerous former and current credible employees”. The accusations were damaging to the reputation and “capable of destroying the professional life” of the chef.
For its part, the Althoff group, based in Cologne and owner of the Seehotel Überfahrt, condemns the events and says it has started a parallel investigation to clarify the complaints. “First of all, we want to make it clear that the accusations affect us. For this reason, we have decided to dismiss Christian Jürgens as of May 5, 2023”, they assured from the restaurant in a statement to the German newspaper Merkur. “We immediately commissioned a renowned law firm to examine the accusations, after we knew about them ”, they assure from the company.
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