Our Family Serving Yours

Son, William Jr, whom everyone called “Tiny”, inquired about the possibility of the Zehnder family purchasing Fischer’s. After many conversations, the sale to the Zehnder family was finalized February 4, 1950. Tiny and his wife, Dorothy (a former waitress at Fischer’s) became the managers of the new business.

With the country in the midst of a recession, there was talk about closing the restaurant. After many debates, the family made a courageous decision—to expand Fischer’s, not close it. in fact, it was Tiny who conceived the idea of the Bavarian theme, a concept which proved to be the beginning of Frankenmuth’s remaking the town in its Bavarian Renaissance.

Many Frankenmuth community leaders and residents considered Tiny Zehnder the driving force behind the transformation of their rural agricultural community into “Michigan’s Little Bavaria”. He spent nearly 50 years of his life assisting and encouraging other Frankenmuth businesses to either build or remodel their buildings in the Bavarian style. Tiny remained Chairman of the Board of Bavarian Inn, Inc. until his death on May 23, 2006.

Dorothy spent more than 85 years working behind the scenes and trained tens of thousands of young people in our Bavarian Inn kitchen. Our beloved matriarch of the Bavarian Inn Zehnder family, passed away on July 9, 2023 at 101 years of age.

Bill & Karen’s eldest daughter, Amy Zehnder Grossi, serves as the President of the Bavarian Inn Restaurant and their other daughter, Katie Zehnder Weiss, serves as the President of Frankenmuth Gift Shops Inc.

Judy & Don’s eldest son, Michael Keller Zehnder, serves as the President at the Lodge and their daughter, Martha Zehnder Kaczynski, serves as the Vice President of the Bavarian Inn Lodge and of Frankenmuth Gift Shops, Inc.