Food and Beverages
When are the meals served?
Breakfast is from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., lunch at 12:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. For lunch and dinner, the Institute’s bell will ring and call you to come. The menu of the week is displayed at the info point in the dining hall. Please clear the tables after the meals and put the tableware back on the service trolleys.
What about some snacks in between?
Coffee, tea and cake are served daily (except for Wednesdays, when the hike takes place) between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Additional snacks and sweets are provided at the cost prize in the cupboards on the right side of the entrance hall in the guest house. Please leave the respective amounts in the corresponding cash boxes.
Can I request special meals if I have dietary restrictions?
The MFO attaches great importance to offer you a wide choice of meals during your stay. You can choose one of five meal categories for lunch and dinner. Please let us know your choice in advance! Kindly note, that this selection then applies to the entire stay. We offer
- a standard meal (may include all kinds of vegetable and animal products; usually one meal per day is meatless),
- a vegetarian meal (excluding meat, fish and seafood; milk products and eggs may be included)
- or a vegan meal (excluding all sorts of animal products).
Further on, we can consider
- gluten sensitivity and
- lactose-intolerance.
Kindly note, that although all meals are prepared with utmost care, to the best of our knowledge and based on information from our suppliers, we cannot guarantee meals being without traces of certain substances.
What other options do I have?
We are very sorry that we are not able to realize other special wishes concerning food, or fulfill additional restrictions arising from cultural or religious rules. The lack of additional room in the dining hall does not allow us to serve a suitable equipped buffet.
Many participants in the past have felt that sticking to the vegetarian or vegan option always available met their dietary restrictions. It was also considered helpful that at least at lunch time the standard meals are usually not served as plated portions. Thus you always have the chance to decide by yourself how much you would like to take from every served meal component. Our breakfast is partially served as buffet so you always have the chance to find additional egg- and milk products as well as vegetarian and vegan spreads.
In addition to the above named options, there’s always a fruit basket available at the bar in the dining hall. Snacks and sweets are provided in the cupboards next to the dining hall and can be bought at the cost price. Long-term participants usually have a refrigerator in their accommodation and can store own food items there. A bakery and two restaurants are in walking distance of the Institute. Supermarkets can be found in Oberwolfach-Kirche and Wolfach (5-8 km distance).
Which drinks are offered?
Tea and coffee are available for free and can be obtained any time at the bar in the conference and library building and in the dining hall of the guest house. For lunch and dinner water will be served. Tea, coffee and juice will be served for breakfast. A variety of other beverages (non-alcoholic and alcoholic) is available at the cost price from the drawers at the bar in the conference and library building and in the dining hall of the guest house. Please leave the respective amount in the cash box or make an entry in the list of unpaid beverages.
Is the distribution of names at lunch and dinner random?
The distribution is randomized, as far as possible and furthers communication within the participants. In 1960 this arrangement of seats was taken to formulate a mathematical problem, the so called Oberwolfach Problem. You can find several publications on it on the Internet. Kindly note, that nowadays it may be necessary to place participants with the same meal options together, in order to ease the serving.
Do I have to tell you if I do not appear for meals?
Yes, please tell us in advance (at the guest services office).