Erfurt court
| Hotel Erfurter Hof
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | various |
| founding | before 1872 |
| resolution | 1995 |
| Reason for dissolution | insolvency |
| Seat | Erfurt |
| Number of employees | up to 300 |
| Branch | Hotel industry |
The Erfurter Hof is a former hotel on Willy-Brandt-Platz in Erfurt . It existed before 1872 and was closed in 1995. The first German-German summit between Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph took place here in 1970 .
history
Origin and management until the Second World War
An ensemble "Erfurter Hof" at Bahnhofsplatz 1–3 was first mentioned in 1872. After the new construction of the Erfurt main station in 1890, a new hotel was built in 1904/05 based on plans by Otto March and in 1914/1916 an extension to include the Kossenhaschen house based on plans by the Erfurt architect Arthur Hügel. The hotel of the catering entrepreneur Georg Kossenhaschen was one of the leading hotels in Europe as the “first house in the square” in Erfurt. In 1923 the Palast-Café was built on the ground floor. In 1926/27, the appearance of the impostor Harry Domela made the hotel famous throughout Germany.
Nationalization and expansion as an Interhotel of the GDR
Although located directly at the train station, the houses survived the Second World War unscathed. In 1948, both hotels were renamed "Erfurter Hof", expropriated and made state property. In the following 20 years the hotel was rebuilt several times and lost the splendid roof end in the form of domes and gables in favor of a simple mansard roof. In 1965, the Erfurter Hof became one of twelve Interhotels in the GDR . In addition to the hotel rooms, there were also the Pilsner's breakfast rooms , the palace café , the Regina bar and the wine cellar . The Erfurter Hof became internationally known in 1970 when the first German-German summit between Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph took place there. Despite the police and Stasi barriers, the masses stormed the station square and shouted “Willy! Willy! ". The clear calls “Willy Brandt to the window!” Followed quickly, whereupon the West German Chancellor appeared briefly at the window of the house. Over the years the hotel had around 160 employees.
Privatization, closure and a culture of remembrance after the fall of the Wall
After reunification , the Erfurter Hof, like the other Interhotels, was taken over by the Treuhandanstalt . In 1991, the Treuhand sold Interhotel AG to the Klingbeil Group , which, however, failed in its attempt to continue operating the Erfurter Hof. In 1995 Deutsche Bank and Depfa Bank took over Deutsche Interhotel Holding GmbH & Co. KG with all its hotels in 1995 from the Berlin Trigon Group (formerly the Klingbeil-Groenke-Guttmann Group ). The hotel closed on June 30, 1995 and was empty until 2004.
At the end of the 1990s, the Thuringian Minister of Economic Affairs, Franz Schuster, provided 40 million DM to fund a five-star hotel in Erfurt, as the state considered a luxury hotel in the state capital to be necessary. On March 26, 2003, the City Council of Erfurt decided to promote the redevelopment of the Erfurter Hof as a five-star hotel. Then the acquired LEG under the leadership of Reinhold Stanitzek not the Erfurt yard, but with the aim of this to find a suitable investor and operator, but a competition for a planned five-star hotel in the LEG own Brühl to prevent and Instead, the state subsidized the construction of a five-star hotel in Brühl. LEG then converted the Erfurter Hof into an office and commercial building with state funds; it was reopened on September 8, 2007. This process became the subject of an investigative committee of the Thuringian state parliament set up in 2004 , which presented its final report in 2009.
On January 27, 2009 the building city administration approved - after a lengthy, controversial debate - the erection of a monument in the form of an illuminated lettering Willy Brandt on the window of the Berlin artist David Mannstein on the roof of the Erfurt court. The memorial was inaugurated on May 20, 2009. The former employees of the hotel, at times over 300, meet every year in Erfurt to exchange memories. On August 26, 2017, such a meeting took place for the 20th time.
literature
- Steffen Raßloff (Ed.): “Willy Brandt at the window!” The Erfurt summit meeting in 1970 and the history of the “Erfurter Hof” . Glaux, Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-940265-05-0 .
- Ulrich Seidel: The Erfurt court . Sutton, Erfurt 2006, ISBN 978-3-86680-029-8 .
- Hans-Peter Brachmanski (Ed.): Hotel Erfurter Hof yesterday and today . Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2007, ISBN 978-3-938997-84-0 .
Movie
- The Erfurter Hof - the story of a luxury hotel . A film by Rainer Erices and Jan Schönfelder . MDR , first broadcast on September 5, 2007.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Iris Pelny: For 20 years, Erfurter-Hof-Treffen , Thüringer Allgemeine, Erfurt, July 13, 2017
- ↑ Thuringian State Parliament , 4th electoral period, printed matter 4/5470, 4/5306, 4/454 and 4/431: Report of the committee of inquiry 4/1 "Hotel funding, possible misuse of public funds and alleged inadmissible subsidies by the Free State of Thuringia for the establishment of the Congress hotels in Suhl and the cathedral hotel in Erfurt and its operation " , August 21, 2009
- ↑ Iris Pelny: For 20 years, Erfurter-Hof-Treffen , Thüringer Allgemeine, Erfurt, July 13, 2017
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 23 " N , 11 ° 2 ′ 14" E