The Farm Awaits Its Guests — Not the Other Way Around

Glessener Mühlenhof relies on the TIXATOR ticketing app

The horses snort, the pigs grunt, dew glistens on the play equipment — and the swallows promise good weather. Sometimes, at first light, Damaris and her team already know it is going to be a busy day.

To the northwest of Cologne’s Ehrenfeld district lies the idyllic Glessener Mühlenhof, with grounds that can welcome nearly 2,000 guests. When the first visitors arrive, the sounds of the farm animals are soon joined by the excited voices of children and parents. At peak times, the entrance can become crowded very quickly.

“We wanted to make things easier at the entrance for both guests and staff. An easy-to-use ticketing app was exactly what we were looking for.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof

Digital Check-In

A lot about the day is decided at the entrance first thing in the morning. Are queues already forming? Is there enough change in the till? One grandmother is searching her purse for coins, the teenagers behind her are working out who will pay with PayPal this time, and the student at the register is trying to figure out which price category applies to the large family group in front of her.

Other guests, meanwhile, are through in seconds: one quick scan on a staff member’s phone and they are straight in. Done. They simply bought their tickets in advance via the farm’s Shopify online store.

Damaris was the driving force behind this digital step. Thanks to her, digital ticketing is now possible here. What she likes most about the easy-to-use app can be summed up in just a few words:

“TIXATOR takes the stress out of it.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof

Half Makes a Big Difference

TIXATOR has not made queues disappear completely, but around half of all guests now buy their tickets online in advance, and that alone has made things much calmer at the entrance. When everyone wants to get onto the farm at the same time, every payment takes time. In the past, all those small interruptions added up and tested everyone’s patience.

But Damaris’s eyes light up again as soon as she talks about the cheerful bustle on the farm. How busy will the weekend be? Have the rabbits been fed? Has the playground been swept? Do we need more apple cake? Do we have enough staff at the snack bar? There is always something to do. With TIXATOR, the team at Glessener Mühlenhof can now see in advance how many tickets have already been sold. That makes it much easier to judge what is coming their way.

“When the last guests can still get their fries or bratwurst, they go home happy too — and it has been a good day for them and their families.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof

Easier Than Expected

Glessener Mühlenhof had already sold tickets online via Shopify in the past for larger events. Back then, admission worked the way it still does at many venues in Germany today:

“Until quite recently, we were still using printed name lists and manually searching through them with our fingers — now that feels like the Stone Age.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof

Of course, any new system takes a little time to settle in, but the rollout was easy. Damaris prepared the devices, installed the app, and after a short adjustment period the team was convinced too — and very glad to have such a simple tool on their phones with TIXATOR. No grand digital vision was being realized here; just a practical improvement that helped immediately.

“I think bringing TIXATOR into day-to-day operations was actually very easy — surprisingly easy.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof

Just One Last Wish

And when the sun sets over the neighboring golf course after a long day, the gates of Glessener Mühlenhof close. It is a place with real horse manure, wasps, bruises, and happy faces. Introducing a single app has noticeably simplified peak times at the entrance, food-service prep, and the farm’s action-packed days overall. The family-run business is glad it took this step.

So what comes next, now that the wish for a working ticketing app has come true? Damaris has a characteristically down-to-earth answer:

“Now all we need is a goose that lays golden eggs.” — Damaris, Glessener Mühlenhof