Dusseldorf Fasting regularly – Leonard Wilhelmi has known that since childhood. No wonder: his great-grandfather, the marine doctor Otto Buchinger, founded the well-known Überlingen fasting clinic in 1953. In a quiet hillside location directly on Lake Constance, with a view of the Alpine peaks.
Leonard Wilhelmi has been running the clinic in the fourth generation since spring 2019. His brother Victor Wilhelmi and their cousin Katharina Rohrer-Zaiser manage the second location in Marbella, Spain.
The Handelsblatt met Leonard Wilhelmi virtually in the first week of January to talk about fasting in 2022 – during his move and at the beginning of his own fasting regimen.
Mr. Wilhelmi, many people use the beginning of the year to eat less after the holidays. Don’t you put anything on the table either?
In fact, I fast twice a year – always in early January and just before my birthday in mid-June. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I use the classic Buchinger-Wilhelmi method, so I avoid solid food for two weeks and start slowly increasing the calorie intake the following week. Right now I am mainly consuming vegetable bouillons and fresh fruit juices. In the summer I always go to my siblings’ clinic in Marbella.
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The pandemic is demanding a lot from us. Why should we go without food now?
Corona has increased the emotional burden everywhere. Fasting is nothing more than returning to balance – this also applies mentally. Food breaks always go hand in hand with being more mindful of yourself. Fasting also helps against diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, i.e. against factors that can worsen the course of a corona infection. From a prevention perspective, there is a lot to be said for a fast.
Intermittent fasting is the trend in your own four walls. You either leave out breakfast or dinner, so you take a longer break from eating. What do you make of it?
In my experience, this is a simple and promising introduction to fasting because it trains the metabolism. Our bodies are not designed to eat snacks three times a day and in between. It is important that you do not set yourself too high goals, then you can also fast at home.
Leonard Wilhelmi: The family entrepreneur fasts twice a year.
(Photo: Frank Beer for Handelsblatt)
It almost sounds as if you could save yourself a visit to your clinic.
Intermittent fasting is suitable for fasting at home. Our fasting method, in which our guests only consume 200 to 250 calories a day over a longer period, should be done under medical supervision. We know what is good for the guest and are available around the clock with our service philosophy.
Why do managers come to you too? To pay between 3,000 and 16,000 euros per week, depending on the room, even though they hardly get anything to eat?
Top private medicine has its price. On average, there are two employees for every guest. Our guests live in rooms that, depending on the category, have the standard of a four- or five-star hotel. In addition, there is a program every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. – whether it’s massages, yoga or lovingly guided hikes, which are particularly popular with guests from major cities.
We see ourselves as a mixture of private clinic, hotel and monastery. Some of our guests are sick and need medical support, others are here preventively and because they appreciate our facility right on Lake Constance. The third group are people who want to switch off because they suffer from burnout, for example.
Doctors report more mental illness as a result of the pandemic. Do you notice that too?
Clearly. The number of our guests who are mentally ill due to Corona is growing all the time. People are mentally overwhelmed by the pandemic, they are looking for ways to cope with it. We have expanded our inspiration offers, there are more mediation options or mindfulness training. Our guests no longer want to lose just five kilograms. They also want tools to help them cope with stress.
They promise this complete physical and mental renewal through soup, vegetable broth and herbal tea. Isn’t that more esoteric than science?
No, just the opposite. For ten years we have been creating scientific studies with our guests in collaboration with internationally renowned universities. For example, we published the largest fasting study in the world with the Charité in Berlin. So we are the world’s largest laboratory for fasting people. Our research shows that fasting has potent therapeutic effects. People feel better afterwards or have fewer toxins in their blood. Fasting even helps those suffering from long covid.
Is fasting a means against long-term corona consequences?
We are currently working on a paper on this. What can already be seen: We can see our first successes with our guests. Neural disorders and physical pain decrease with fasting. For example, we had a guest who could no longer play the piano after suffering from Covid. After 14 days with us he was able to make music again. Fasting is also the best thing you can do for yourself to reset your mind.
How did your company get through the pandemic?
We are a clinic and not a hotel, so we never had to close – in compliance with strict hygiene requirements. In the first lockdown in spring 2020, we recorded a very sharp drop in booking numbers. For the year as a whole, however, we were able to almost match the occupancy figures of 2019, and that also applies to the past year.
What’s new is that we get a lot of last minute bookings, people don’t plan that far in advance anymore. Unlike in the past, we no longer have waiting lists of six months. Because of the travel restrictions, we count significantly fewer guests from abroad, but more domestic ones.
What do you expect for the new year?
I am very optimistic for 2022 if the situation stabilizes. In the long run, Corona could have a positive effect on us; the crisis has made fasting an attractive therapy option for more and more people.
More and more patients come to the clinic for psychological problems.
(Photo: Buchinger-Wilhelmi)
You speak of the possible positive effects of the pandemic – at least when it comes to digitization, Corona had that without question. With you too?
We see ourselves less as “high tech” than as “high touch” – a visit to us cannot be compensated virtually. During the pandemic, we received calls from many guests that they would like to be looked after at home. That’s why we want to bring out an app this year. For example, we are planning to offer one-week virtual fasting courses. Yoga or meditation offers are also conceivable so that the guests can continue what they have learned here at home. Many of our regular guests just want to stay in touch with us digitally.
Regulars? Do you have some patients regularly?
In fact, around 70 percent of our guests come back regularly. For some, we even have a general practitioner role. You come to fast once a year and have your health checked right away. Fasting once is not enough. We need to fast regularly to keep our natural rhythm.
Business is not about fasting, but about growing, as you know that as a business economist. What are your expansion plans?
We have two plans for the future. One that we did before – and one that we did during Corona. I don’t want to rule out further openings in the future, but at the moment our main focus is on our existing clinics. In family businesses one likes to speak of a generational task. But if you take over the business shortly before a pandemic, it is presumptuous to speak of big plans. We want to look at all the options in the next few years.
The photo shows the third and fourth generation of the family business.
(Photo: Buchinger-Wilhelmi)
Wouldn’t it also be an option to offer fasting yoghurts or soups in stores? Such products are trendy.
We want to concentrate on the top segment. We are the only provider who has more than 100 years of experience and offers our guests individual fasting options. If Nestlé comes to us with an idea for a collaboration, we will certainly take a look. Basically, we want to concentrate on top-quality medicine for an international clientele.
You took over operations in 2019. What do you do differently than your father?
I no longer wear a tie and allow my employees to speak to me. But seriously: I’m trying to put a few accents. I was able to win a great head chef for us, who was previously kitchen director at the Hamburg hotel “Vier Jahreszeiten” for over ten years and who pursues a more modern culinary concept.
My father is very musical, and that was also reflected in the guest program. I focus on the subject of mindfulness, so I am expanding our inspiration area. We are also working harder on the issues of sustainability and digitization. In five years, our clinic is to be operated exclusively with green energy.
The handover was largely noiseless. Is the impression wrong?
Anyone who takes over a family business from their parents and says that everything is peace, joy, pancakes has a perceptual disorder. Of course, there was a bit of a squabble at the beginning too. But we were prepared for the takeover professionally and for a very long time, also by a coach.
How often do your parents get involved in business?
It would be unwise not to use our parents’ expertise, both of whom sit on our advisory boards. You have already taken over the company and you know what got on your nerves back then.
Mr. Wilhelmi, thank you very much for the interview.
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