Herdecke · on the Ruhr, Germany
One pub, many hosts.
The pub stays the pub. The host changes. The Open Pub is an established house that gives itself, for a season, to hosts with an idea — bar, team, regulars and numbers included.
Ein Pub, viele Wirte. Der Pub bleibt der Pub. Der Wirt wechselt.
The idea
The idea
A pub is more than its landlord. And a landlord does not always need a house of their own.
Since 2015 The Shakespeare has stood on Herdecke's high street: twelve taps, a kitchen, a team, regulars who know where their seat is. All of that belongs to the house — not to one person. The Open Pub draws the conclusion: the house opens to hosts who have something to show, and lets them be the landlord for a while. Then the pub carries on. With the next one.
Not a pop-up in an empty hall. Not a venue that first has to be found, rented and fitted out. A running business that a winemaker, a brewer, a cook, a restaurateur with an idea can move into — and move out of again, with numbers that prove something.
What stays, what changes
The pub stays the pub.
This stays
The house
- Licence, lease, tillEverything keeps running through The Shakespeare. No sublease, no transfer of business.
- The teamYou know the faces behind the bar. The guest host joins them, not replaces them.
- The beerThe taps, the brewery, the provenance — unchanged.
- The regularsThey are the reason the whole thing works.
This changes
The host
- The handwritingMenu, programme, evenings, music — what makes a host a host is theirs for the season.
- The menu beside the menuWines, food, a second focus alongside the beer. Not instead of — as well as.
- The crowdEvery host brings their own people. The pub meets new guests; the guests meet a new face.
- The timeA residency has a beginning and an end. Both get celebrated.
How it works
Four steps from a conversation to the bar.
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Enquiry
An email is enough: who you are, what you want to show, how long you have in mind. We answer personally.
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An evening in the house
One evening at the bar. We look at whether your idea and this house fit — and say so if they don't.
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Agreement
A clear arrangement for a fixed time: period, programme, costs and how a surplus is shared. In writing, in plain language, no small print.
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Residency
You are the host. The house, the team and the guests are there. At the end there are honest numbers — for you and for us.
The first residency
Winter 2027.
The first residency is agreed: from mid-January to the end of March 2027 a neighbouring Herdecke business runs the pub — with its own wine list, its own programme and the house team. The first host is a neighbour. The second may be a stranger.
What happens there will be measured and written down. Not to tell a nice story, but so the next host knows what they are getting into.
- Period
- January to March 2027
- Form
- Fixed-term collaboration, no change of lease
- More
- as soon as the partners announce it together
Who it is for
Who can be a host here.
- Winemakers and brewersYou have a product and want to see how it lives at a bar — not just at a trade fair.
- Cooks and chefsYou want to run a menu without first founding a restaurant.
- Restaurateurs with an ideaYou have a concept and need a place to prove it before you invest.
- Houses like oursYou run a place yourself and want to know whether it runs without you. We have tested it.
A word from Shakespeare
Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?
Become a host
Tell us what you want to show.
Three sentences are enough to start: who you are, what you have in mind, when. We reply personally — and tell you honestly whether it fits.
Herdecke is in the Ruhr region, an hour from Düsseldorf and Cologne airports. Hosts from anywhere are welcome; the house speaks English.