< GERMANY | FRANKFURT: Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof

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With the formation of the stock company “Frankfurter Hotel-Aktien-Gesellschaft” the foundation stone of the future hotel was laid on 29th October 1872. Four years later, on the 26th of June 1876 the grandhotel with the name „Frankfurter Hof“ opened its doors with a large ceremony. The impressive new building was built by the architects Mylius and Bluntschli, offering its guests 250 rooms (350 beds), 20 banquet rooms, a large dining hall created for 300 persons, elevators, steam heating and a spacious kitchen with 6.5 m high ceilings. New hotel astonished its guests as well as hoteliers from all over the world.

In 1881, the Frankfurter Hof was the first hotel in Germany to use electricity for lights/lamps and had the first landline in Frankfurt for long distance calls. In the same year the hotel company decided to lease the “Frankfurter Hof” to the well-known Swiss hotelier César Ritz. In 1895, César Ritz and consortium took over the Frankfurter Hof.

Until the beginning of the Second World War the number of guests rose constantly and even during the war the “Frankfurter Hof” existed as a platform for international guests and was not occupied by the NS-Regime. In 1940 Albert Steigenberger, owner of the hotel “Europäischer Hof” in Baden-Baden purchased stock majority and took over the management of the “Frankfurter Hof”.

In March 1944, after frequent bomb attacks, the Hotel burnt out and only the facades could be saved. The restart followed 4 years later in an adjoining building with 20 beds.

On January, 1st 1951, Albert Steigenberger founded the A. Steigenberger Hotelgesellschaft KgaA. In 1958 Egon Steigenberger inherited the hotel from his father and under his leadership the “Frankfurter Hof” gained back its excellent position in the international hotel industry. In 1961 the “Frankfurter Hof” became the largest hotel in the Federal Republic of Germany.

From 2009 until 2019, the majority shareholder of Steigenberger Hotels AG (part of the Deutsche Hospitality) was the Egyptian tourism company Travco Group International Holding S.A.E.

In 2019, The Deutsche Hospitality was acquired by the Huazhu group and the banquet halls were renovated.

Today, The Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof is regarded as a living monument to the five-star hotels. For more than 140 years, the “First Lady” of the city welcomed many famous personalities from all over the world: The empress Victoria, Albert Schweitzer, François Mitterand, King Juan Carlos, Elton John, The Rolling Stones...and many more...

Thomas Mann, famous German novelist expressed his thoughts on the Frankfurter Hof in the following way: „At the Frankfurter Hof I have realized the meaning of a real grand hotel again. There you know, for what you are paying, and you do it with a kind of happiness.“

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