Berghotel Rehlegg: Black Alpine Pigs

Respectful: animal welfare based on conviction

The certified climate-positive hotel has been sourcing 90 percent of all needed food from the region for years. Meat and fish come exclusively from species-appropriate, small farming – out of conviction. The Rehlegg owners and cousins ​​Franz and Hannes Lichtmannegger reject conventional livestock breeding, for them, only meat from species-appropriate husbandry comes into consideration.

What was quite easy for lamb, beef and fish was a problem when looking for meat from appropriate pig farming: the living conditions of pigs did not meet the expectations of the hotel. On the other side, these pigs cannot be kept outside on the mountain pastures all year round, because the pink fattening pigs are not robust enough for this, among other things, because they have hardly any skin pigments and do not tolerate much sun.

Natives in Bavaria: Black Alpine pigs

With the resumption of breeding the robust black Alpine pigs, which had been eradicated in Bavaria for over 100 years, Hannes Lichtmannegger found the solution. He applied to the Italian conservation organization “Pro Patronomio Montano”,  preserving genetic diversity in the Alps, for some of the few surviving animals.

After extensive testing, Lichtmannegger received six piglets. In collaboration with partner farmers, Franz Kuchlbauer from Ramsau (Berchtesgadener Land district) and Sebastian Kettenberger from Tittmoning (Traunstein district), breeding of the black Alpine pigs was resumed.

In the meantime, over 40 small and large Alpine pigs are raging on the premises of two partner farmers of the Berghotel Rehlegg.

The hotel finances breeding and is also the main purchaser of the meat. Today everyone involved is happy about how comfortable the animals feel in their natural environment. They all share the conviction that there should be no tortured meat on the plate. This also means that rearing is correspondingly more expensive because the animals are reared much longer than a fattening sow.

The Rehlegg pigs can play in the pasture for a year and a half, eat fresh herbs and juicy grass and live without any stress. As a result, guests can enjoy high-quality meat in the Rehlegg’s restaurants, which is characterized by valuable omega-3 fatty acids and a full-bodied taste – and comes from happy Alpine pigs from appropriate husbandry.