<< In the 18th century ... >>

... the family's ancestors ran a postal relay station and restaurant in the southern Baden town of Bad Krozingen.In 1876, the inn was converted into a restaurant located in the Freiburg train station, where three generations of Stiglers continued to serve guests food and drink - 

- including wine from the Ihringer Winklerberg site in the Kaiserstuhl district. Travelers had several options: there were full-service meals in the first-class restaurant; ligter fare in the second-class restaurant and in a wine-and-beer-pub; and homemade pasatries in the station's café.

Furthermore, the Stiglers had the food concession for platform service in the train station and also offered off-premise catering. Josef Alban Stigler was the first "train station" restaurateur.

In 1881, his son Josef Fidel Stigler laid the foundation of the family's wine estate by purchasing a parcel of vines in the Ihringer Winklerberg site, even then touted as one of Germany's finest vineyards.