Ronny from STÜH33

Ronnie introduces himself!

I'm Ronny Hanatschek. We are here at STÜH33 in Bochum, in our café that opened in 2020 and the attached coworking space.

How did it come about that you opened the café?

For me, this is a pure passion and heart project, because I actually come from the agency industry. So you might think that it corresponds to this clichéd image "There's some marketing geek opening a restaurant". But the idea of ​​my partner and I was to create a place where people can just escape from everyday life for half an hour, relax and feel particularly comfortable. Our team creates a place here every day where you can feel like you're on a short vacation and gather experiences.

What is special about Stüh33?

In our case, that was a very long preliminary planning. It took about seven years from the idea to the final implementation. Many years ago I immersed myself in the world of coffee and saw the development from coffee as a commodity to coffee craft and enjoyment. I found it a pity that I had to travel to Germany's big cities for special café experiences and that the great discoveries from this world remain hidden from those around me. The STÜH33 is a kind of best-of from the many visits to cafés from Hamburg to Munich. Sometimes we visited up to seven different sports in one city in one weekend to keep a diary. We wanted to bring exactly these experiences to our homeland, so that you can also experience them here. That was our motivation - to deliver special dishes, good coffee with high quality and in a suitable location. Winner of two titles, Benjamin Pozsgai brings out the best in our selected coffees.

Where exactly are we here?

We are here in the Ko factory, an old and beautiful brick building. That was also a criterion when we were looking for premises. The building stood empty for years. The Montag Foundation has invested here in order to renovate the building and to primarily pursue community development here.

This means that in one part of the building the tenants have low rents, but also pay a certain number of "quarter hours" according to the square footage, which, if not collected, is reflected in an additional rent payment, most of which in turn flows into the quarters fund . So people come together here who find the project interesting and also think beyond pure profit maximization and have a sustainable basic character. Here, for example, there is a bookshop, photographers and other creative people. The rents that are exempt from this regulation are in line with market practice and generate a surplus that benefits neighborhood development. For example in growing vegetables or organizing other formats.

Why exactly Bochum and no other city in the Ruhr area?

As already mentioned, my agency “acht ideen” comes from the marketing industry. We are based in Dortmund in the Kreuzviertel district and there are some great cafés there and, at the latest, on Saarlandstraße there is a great roastery called Neues Schwarz. I would say that Dortmund is just a bit more spoiled with good cafés. Most of our friends hang out in Bochum. We feel more deeply rooted in Bochum and found it far more sensible to create a place here where we can bring all our ideas for a feel-good place together. The special property with its social aspect finally made the decision easy - also because we were able to realize a second agency location and exchange with other creative people on the 2nd floor with the coworking space.

What would you recommend in Bochum?

Definitely classic stuff like Starlight Express or the Centennial Hall. But I also like Bochum-Ehrenfeld with the gold edge and the many side streets or the Cortland neighborhood here. I also really like the after-work market!

What are your tips for the whole Ruhr area?

 I recently discovered the Hoppenbruch spoil tip. I like to drive Bicycle and didn't even have this stockpile on the screen. But basically I find everyone Heaps in the Ruhr area highly recommended as a destination for walking, cycling or relaxing. There are also many venues in the Ruhr area and basically a lot of culture and music festivals.

All photos © Per Appelgren