9 Top Culinary schools in Germany|Requirements & Guide

Attending culinary schools in Germany may give you the opportunity to develop your knowledge and technique as a culinary professional while cultivating the expression of your inner artist. In this article, I will talk about the culinary schools in Germany and some of the reasons why you will like to attend these culinary schools.

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Why study in Germany?

Top culinary schools in Norway|Benefits of a culinary school

One of the benefits of attending any of the culinary schools in London is the ability of these schools to infuse their studies and careers with unique and new experiences.

In these schools, students are able to engage in invigorating explorations of cuisine, culture and artistry.

This eventually gives upcoming chefs the chance to develop and become professionals.

Away from school, you will spend your evenings absorbing the expressions of their beautiful culture.

You will socialize with new people, taste new foods & drinks, ride the trains, walk the streets and above all reflect on your experiences.

To add to all that, Imagine yourself walking through Germany’s lush and expansive parks, standing amidst stunning palaces, and absorbing the country’s gorgeous countryside.

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List of Culinary schools in Germany

Here are some of the good culinary schools in Germany:

  • Institute of Culinary Art
  • Taste Academy Cologne
  • BP cooking school Cooking Stuttgart
  • Edelweiss Cooking School _ Salzburg

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Institute of Culinary Art

The ICA Global Apprenticeship has a program geared towards expanding the professional qualifications of young professionals.

It gives the foodservice industry the opportunity to fill its positions with highly motivated, carefully selected and best prepared young people from all over the world.

They have a joint course of the ICA Academy and the GBZ (Gastronomic Education Center Koblenz).

During the time of your program, you get to understand your job better and give your career impetus.

And of course, anyone who has gained initial experience in the foodservice industry wants to qualify for more.

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Taste Academy Cologne

This is one of the culinary schools in Germany that is located in the heart of Cologne right in the middle of the trendy Ehrenfeld / Beckendorf area.

Their centrally located rooms have an industrial but inviting design and the modern equipment with the latest AEG appliances whets the appetite for cooking together.

They have cooking workshops and cooking demonstrations tailored to your needs and partner programs.

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BP cooking school Cooking Stuttgart

BP cooking school Cooking Stuttgart has a team consisting of full professionals with many years of experience in top gastronomy. 

They are also the only stand-alone cooking school in Stuttgart that is officially approved as a training company by DeHoGa and the Stuttgart Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

However, not only cooking courses from their portfolio are available. 

Caterings, company events or incentive events are also part of their offer. 

Culinary company events strengthen team spirit, are fun and also offer added value for every participant. 

They discuss the dishes with you in advance. Or celebrate a unique party in their event location in Stuttgart – for a birthday or a wedding.

Whether cooking courses, team events or catering – they are the right choice.

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Edelweiss Cooking School

Ursulinenplatz 9, 5020 Salzburg

Edelweiss Cooking School is one of the culinary schools in Germany that gives you the opportunity to cook on your own while being carefully guided by their experienced chefs.

In this culinary school, you are sure to acquire a wealth of culinary experience and knowledge in an extraordinarily relaxed and fun environment.

They have a maximum group size of 10 people per lesson and the lessons are in English. There are private classes as well.

lunch class: apple strudel & salzburger nockerl incl. lunch: € 45,90
dinner class & concert prezels, dumpling, apple strudel & salzburg music: € 72,90
Lunch class apple strudel & speck or cheese dumplings: € 45,90

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Other cooking schools and shops in Germany to check out

  • Sickener in Hamburg
  • Kochen und Würzen in Berlin
  • Italienische mediterrane Kochschule in Munich
  • Café Kubitschek in Munich
  • Gekreuzte Möhrchen in Hamburg

How much do chefs make in Germany?

The national average salary for a Chef is €111,210 in Germany.

Filter by location to see Chef salaries in your area. Salary estimates are based on 1,359 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Chef employees.

Chef =€111,210 /yr

Head Chef =€54,937 /yr

Are culinary schools worth it?

Some say that culinary school is unnecessary because cooks can learn “on the job.”

And while there are certain lessons that are best taught in a professional kitchen — like how to work around others on a crowded line, or how to manage your time during service — there are unique benefits to the classroom setting that can’t be replicated in a working kitchen.

Here are some ways students may enjoy the culinary school advantage.

Learning is Your Job

In a professional kitchen, your job is to get those potatoes peeled, or that hollandaise prepped for service. And the executive chef’s job is to get the food out the door to serve hungry customers.

As long as you can complete the tasks assigned to you, your supervisors may not have the time or incentive to help you expand your culinary skills. And even if you’ve found a great chef mentor, you still have to complete your assigned tasks before you can focus on learning.

A culinary student’s job, on the other hand, is to learn as much as possible. And your Chef Instructor’s job is to teach you. Everyone is working toward the same goal — providing students with the knowledge and tools they’ll need to be successful.


This environment lets students ask questions, make mistakes, and practice until perfect, without holding up service or wasting a restaurant’s product. That’s what school is all about!

Understand Why, Not Just How

If you want to be creative in the kitchen, you need to understand why certain techniques give you the desired result.

Why do savory dishes benefit from a hint of acidity? Why do we add eggs to a cake? Without the underlying understanding of these basic culinary principles, you may find yourself unable to make substitutions and alterations, hindering your creativity.

In culinary school, Chef Instructors are available to explain the science behind these techniques, which will become tools in your experimental toolbox.

Travel the Culinary World

A major drawback of the “learn on the job” method is the limited scope of what you may learn.

A restaurant or professional kitchen will have a limited number of menu items, often within one specific type of cuisine. Cooks will make those same recipes over and over. And while they may gain great expertise in that one culinary style, they won’t have the opportunity to learn different world cuisines.

But in culinary school, students will have the opportunity to explore a wider variety of food styles. Escoffier’s Culinary Arts programs include courses on the world or regional cuisines, exposing students to culinary traditions from around the globe.

Give Your Career a Boost

Culinary school graduates are not chefs. That’s a title they still must earn.

But a culinary degree or diploma on your resume may provide hiring chefs or supervisors with proof that you take your career seriously. And that could be the difference between winning the interview or being passed over for a more experienced candidate.

Are chefs in demand in Germany?

The demand for international culinary specialities is steadily increasing in Germany. The German consumer now expects to find restaurants serving food from all over the world in their city.

This demand goes beyond the usual Chinese, Italian and Turkish food as the market diversifies and expands into the culinary realms of other parts of the world.

Therefore, there is a demand for foreign speciality chefs to live and work here in Germany.

Should your restaurant develop a reputation for serving high-quality food in a style not readily available to the average consumer, then you can expect your customer base to grow.

However, the legal situation in Germany regarding the issue of a Visa for employment as a speciality chef can occasionally confuse both the applicants and employers concerned.

For this reason, Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte can provide the clear guidance and advice you need to avoid this confusion.

The authorisation of a residence permit for employment in Germany is determined for foreign citizens from non-EU-member states by § 18 (2) German Residence Act.

This article pays special attention to the provisions and conditions according to which the stay as a speciality cook is determined by § 11 (2) of the Employment Regulation (BeschV).

The maximum length of stay for employment as a speciality cook according to § 11 II BeschV in Germany is four years.

The first approval of the application is initially for one year and allows the authority to check the circumstances under which employment as a speciality cook is exercised.

To obtain such an employment permit, applicants must meet both the general and the subject-specific requirements for speciality chefs.

These considerations must be met both on the employer’s side and personally by the applicant.

Do you want to migrate to Germany as a Chef or extend your residence permit as a Chef? Check out the following.

What are the formal requirements in order to work as a cook in Germany?

Citizens from the EU who would like to work as a cook in Germany usually only need the appropriate craftsmanship and German language skills. Health certificates are also required but are usually applied for together with employers in Germany.
Applicants who are not from the EU must currently meet the following requirements:

– German language skills at least at level B1 (with proof)
– A completed vocational training in the profession, which is recognized in Germany.

Whether and how your vocational training and your language certificate will be recognized is usually clarified during the application process. Which skills do I need as a cook in Germany?

A large number of jobs in Germany are only filled with qualified workers, i.e. people who have either already completed a vocational training program or a degree program.

Also for the tasks of the cook, at least in the upscale gastronomy in Germany, usually only people with professional training as a cook and many years of work experience are hired.

It is expected that this professional training was completed in Germany.

If a professional training as a cook was completed abroad, then many employers expect it to at least come very close to the German training.

As a chef in the upscale gastronomy – i.e. the gastronomy in which not only warming up is done but in which basic own food is prepared – applicants from abroad for example must not only know how to cut potatoes, carrots or onions quickly and efficiently, but you must also master the following tasks for example:

– How to coordinate a kitchen team in German
– How to prepare typical German dishes, including fried potatoes, dumplings, goulash, pork schnitzel
– How to create a menu
– What to look out for with regard to allergens
– Which products to order in what quantity and when to process them
– Which legal framework conditions for commercial cooking in Germany prevailHow can I become a cook in Germany without previous experience?

Since foreign applicants who have no work experience in Germany rarely master this knowledge, there are usually two options:

Citizens of the European Union can either apply for a job as a cook or assistant in the simple gastronomy sector, where they can gain further qualifications either independently or with the help of their employer, in order to later work fully as a cook.

Within the framework of the free movement of workers, EU citizens can apply to work in a kitchen in Germany at any time.

Employers will usually require applicants to demonstrate their skills in test work.
For foreign applicants who are not from the EU, there is usually the possibility to complete an apprenticeship as a cook in Germany.

Related professions are those of hotel specialists and restaurant specialists. Which language skills do I need in order to work as a cook in Germany?

In any application as a foreigner in Germany, it is highly recommended that applicants enclose proof of knowledge of the German language, for example, a German exam certificate (if you are not a native speaker).

In most cases it does not matter where you received this certificate – it can be a local language school and it does not have to be a German organization.

However, it is important that you not only enclose certificates of participation but also certificates you received after exams.

For the position of a cook, German language skills at least on level B1 are mandatory in many cases.

Applicants should be aware that cooks need to interact with the service personnel on orders, special wishes of the clients or complaints.

Also within the kitchen, all interaction processes need a good command of German.

EU citizens might apply even with lower German skills and/or without certification. For non-EU-applicants, there is usually no way to avoid these requirements.

Foreign applicants are free to apply for open positions as a cook in Germany. Besides agencies like Life-in-Germany.de, there are many other agencies, job portals or announcements of single companies available.

With applying applicants want to make sure to include a curriculum vitae / CV in table form with the application.

Using the Europass template and filling out this template completely is recommended.

Applicants might also use an individual CV template, but in our experience, it is easier for employers to work with Europass nowadays.

Applicants also want to make sure that the CV is up to date: this means that you must indicate in particular what you are doing at the moment.

There should also be no gaps in your CV – if you have not been employed for more than a month, you should indicate this and explain why.

After you have sent your application, you should wait at least a few days to a week before you ask the company or your agency.

Hiring processes in Germany might take a much longer time than in other countries.



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