Sansibar on the island of Sylt is a cult restaurant set in the sand dunes, frequented by celebrities and the wealthy. Here is the story of the beach cabin that became Germany's highest-turnover restaurant.
It is probably Germany's most famous pub – or at least one of the most famous. Not because celebrity chefs have made their mark here or because Michelin stars or other awards have been won here. It is not a gourmet mecca with elaborate high cuisine. Basically, Sansibar on the island of Sylt between Rantum and Hörnum is nothing more than a beach hut in the middle of the dunes by the sea. It always has been the way and it still is.
Nevertheless, the place is a crowd puller and its popularity is legendary. For many, it is hard to imagine a stay on Sylt without a visit to Sansibar. After all, who wouldn't want to visit the place where celebrities and the super-rich have been feasting for decades, where the jet set celebrates wild parties and where the curious queue up to get a free seat?
Sansibar is inseparably linked with the island of Sylt. A local icon with a history that was probably only possible here. Founded as a kiosk in the dunes, it has risen to become the island's most famous beach restaurant, and many people call it "Germany's most northerly ski hut". Today it is a gastronomic monument made of wood and glass, built on sand: with 160 seats inside the restaurant and 250 outside on the terrace. The cellar holds over 30,000 bottles of wine and the cult pub has around 90,000 fans on Facebook.
According to the website Food Service, Sansibar is now the "single restaurant with the highest turnover" in Germany, with an estimated annual turnover of around €25 million. On peak days in summer, up to 5,000 guests storm the cult hut.
It all began in 1974, when Herbert Seckler, a chef from Swabia in southwestern Germany, was drawn to Sylt to work for a summer. But he stayed longer and opened a simple kiosk where he also served currywurst and stew. He called the small wooden hut Sansibar because the stretch of beach had borne that name since 1930.
Seckler quickly realised that the privileged location of the then still largely unknown wooden shack was his greatest advantage. He expanded and enlarged – but experienced a bitter setback in 1982. His Sansibar went up in flames and burned down completely. Undeterred, Seckler had a larger shack built. According to legend, it was the journalist Peter Boenisch, then spokesman for Helmut Kohl's government, who often stopped by in the years that followed and brought many new guests. However, it was star photographer and full-time playboy Gunter Sachs, who died in 2011, who made put it definitively on the celebrity map when he visited Sansibar for the first time with his entourage. Seckler once said in an interview: "Gunter was a very pleasant friend, he was here quite often. We miss him."
Sachs and Sylt proved to be a highly regarded combination as early as the late 1960s. At that time, industrialist and photographer celebrated wild parties on the hitherto tranquil island. Together with his then wife Brigitte Bardot and other celebrities, the millionaire playboy mainly lounged on the legendary Buhne 16 beach near Kampen. At the end of the 1980s, Sachs brought many of his friends to Sansibar and played a decisive role in turning the now legendary property into a highly regarded celebrity hangout. Famous German entertainers and sportspeople who holidayed on Sylt like Joachim Löw, Jürgen Klopp, Günther Jauch and Thomas Gottschalk and Til Schweiger, have been seen time and again at Sansibar. Peter Lewandowski, editor-in-chief of Gala magazine, once spoke of a "magical place, a utopia that has become reality". Football legend Günter Netzer was also convinced: "The people who come here come home."
Even Karl Lagerfeld once had a photo shoot here for a fortnight for a catalogue with top international models. They all succumbed to the charm of an incomparable combination of beach hut atmosphere mixed with celebrity flair and a special culinary experience.
Sansibar's cuisine ranges from a legendary curry sausage, lentil soup and liver dumplings to exquisite gourmet bites with the finest caviar and dishes such as Pikeperch on Champagne cabbage or Branzino with beef carpaccio.
However, Sansibar's greatest treasure exists below the restaurant. In its legendary wine cellar, which had to be dug out of the sandy soil by specialists, a narrow staircase leads to a long table in the semi-darkness of a vault, where the host occasionally invites guests to taste the wine. The actual wine warehouse is next door. Among other things, large bottles with the inscription "Only Sansibar" are stored there. In the somewhat smaller warehouse behind, the most expensive red wines in the world are lined up close together, from Pétrus and Romanée-Conti downwards. Wines that people like to drink on Sylt. Money doesn't play too big a role. Especially not at Sansibar.
Innkeeper Herbert Seckler recently celebrated his 70th birthday and wants to soon hand over the restaurant with its 200 employees to his son Niklas. Until that happens, however, he still wants to be involved. In a recent interview he said: "As long as I live, I will be here. And I wouldn't know what else to do." There are worse decisions.
