🇩🇪 German cheeses

German cheeses come from the country that makes the most cheese in the EU: 2.4 million tonnes in 2024, about 23% of the total. Yet it has only 9 protected names, against 58 for France and 56 for Italy. Many other varieties are defined by a national ordinance on milk products, the MilchPQV. That does not mean less tradition: standard types can be made anywhere in the country, so they need no tie to a place. ¹⁴⁵

The main cheese region is the Allgäu in the south. Swiss cheesemakers arrived around 1821, and around 1830 the merchant Carl Hirnbein brought in Limburger. Allgäuer Bergkäse (15–50 kg, 4 months of ripening) and Allgäuer Emmentaler are made from raw milk. Allgäuer Sennalpkäse is made only on Alpine farms above 800 m, from May to October. Weißlacker, a rindless semi-soft cheese with a varnish-like smear, ripens for 12–15 months; its specification calls it the world's first patented cheese (1876). Swiss know-how took root here because the Allgäu's geology and climate resemble Switzerland's Emmental. ⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹

Other regions have protected cheeses too. Holsteiner Tilsiter from Schleswig-Holstein weighs 3.5–5 kg, ripens for at least five weeks and tastes mild to spicy. Altenburger Ziegenkäse, from the border of Thuringia and Saxony, uses cheese milk with at least 15% goat's milk. Odenwälder Frühstückskäse from the Hessian Odenwald is a soft 100 g cheese of pasteurised cow's milk. It has so little goat's milk because people used to drink that milk themselves. ¹²¹⁵¹⁶

Many cheeses are described not by the EU register but by Annex 4 of the MilchPQV regulation: its standard varieties include Emmentaler, Bergkäse, Chester, Gouda, Tilsiter, Butterkäse, Camembert, Limburger, Romadur. These names denote a type, not a place, so such cheese can be made anywhere in the country. Butterkäse, according to Wisconsin Cheese, appeared in 1928 at a dairy in Weihenstephan. ⁵¹⁸

A distinctly German group is sour-milk cheese (Sauermilchkäse), based on acid quark made without rennet. Harzer is listed at the lowest fat level, under 10% fat in dry matter. Hessischer Handkäse weighs 20–125 g and has 1.1–2.3% fat in dry matter and 26.6–37.7% protein. Nieheimer Käse is made only in the town of Nieheim, sometimes in hop leaves. ⁵⁶¹³¹⁴

German cheese or French and Italian? Germany makes the most cheese in the EU, 2.4 million tonnes in 2024, yet has only 9 protected names against 58 for France and 56 for Italy. Many German cheeses are standard varieties described by the MilchPQV ordinance, such as Tilsiter, Gouda or Limburger. Those names mean a type, not a place, so the cheese can be made anywhere in the country, whereas a PDO or PGI name ties a cheese to its own area.

Read the full name: “Tilsiter” is a standard variety with no region, while “Holsteiner Tilsiter” with the EU PGI mark (protected geographical indication) comes from Schleswig-Holstein. Fat on the label refers to dry matter, written “% Fett i.Tr.”, not to the whole cheese. Allgäuer cheeses, Weißlacker and Hessischer Handkäse carry protected names. You will find them at a supermarket cheese counter or a delicatessen.

Why it matters to you. Tell two labels apart. «Tilsiter» is a standard variety with no region set in the ordinance; «Holsteiner Tilsiter» with the PGI mark is made in Schleswig-Holstein. Fat on the label refers to dry matter («% Fett i.Tr.»), not the whole cheese. Try Handkäse as «Handkäs mit Musik», marinated with onion, vinegar and oil. ⁵⁷¹²¹⁷