Holiday Inn Hotel Beirut
| Holiday Inn Hotel Beirut | |
|---|---|
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| Basic data | |
| Place: | Beirut |
| Construction time : | 1971-1974 |
| Status : | War ruin |
| Architects : | André Wogenscky , Maurice Hindié |
| Technical specifications | |
| Floors : | 26th |
| address | |
| Country: | Lebanon |
The former Holiday Inn Hotel in the Lebanese capital Beirut is a high-rise and hotel construction . The building was the scene of heavy fighting in the Lebanese Civil War in the mid-1970s , in which it was severely damaged. The damage to the structure will not have been repaired by 2015. With its bullet holes and shell impacts visible from afar , the Holiday Inn Hotel became a symbol and landmark against the war.
history
The 26-story luxury hotel was built for the Holiday Inn chain in the early 1970s from 1971 and opened in 1974. It is located in the city center about 250 meters from the marina and the Mediterranean Sea. The architects were the French André Wogenscky and Maurice Hindié .
The Lebanese civil war broke out the following year. The front line was in downtown Beirut, where the hotel is located . The hotels in the area were used as bases and by snipers due to their special height , which exposed them to heavy fire. The so-called hotel battle raged here in the early phase of the war. The highest of the hotels, the Holiday Inn, was also contested. On December 12, 1975, it was set on fire for the fifth time. The images of the rising black clouds of smoke went around the world and so the Holiday Inn became a symbol of the civil war.
After the end of the civil war in 1990, many destroyed or damaged buildings in Beirut were either renovated or demolished. The former Holiday Inn was excluded. Several shareholders own the hotel building. There is uncertainty about future use. The renovation and conversion into loft apartments and a demolition are discussed.
Trivia
In the 1981 film The Falsification by Volker Schlöndorff , the reporter Georg Laschen stayed in the building to report on the war.
Web links
- The ruins of the former luxury hotel "Holiday Inn" . Photo report about the Holiday Inn. Published in Die Welt on May 21, 2014. Accessed June 7, 2014.
- Symbol of luxury and violence . Holiday Inn Beirut expires. Film report about the Holiday Inn Hotel in Beirut. Published on May 7, 2015 in Faz.net . Accessed June 7, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dounia Salamé: On Memory and Commemoration in Beirut: The Holiday Inn in Bloom ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Published in Cujah . Accessed June 8, 2015.
- ↑ Christian Greder: Holiday Inn Beirut: Symbol for luxury and violence ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Published on May 22nd, 2014 in Hotellerie Gastronomie Zeitung . Accessed June 7, 2015.
Coordinates: 33 ° 53 ′ 59 " N , 35 ° 29 ′ 42.3" E