Excelsior Hotel Ernst, Cologne

Introduction

The Excelsior Hotel Ernst with a view of the Cologne Cathedral, the 'Dom', was built in 1863. Carl Ernst was the constructor and first owner of the hotel, which was formerly called "Hotel Ernst".

History

Only eight years later, in 1871, Carl Ernst sold the hotel to Friedrich Kracht.Four years after buying the hotel, he died. His wife and his son Carl Kracht had to manage the city-centre hotel from now on. Meanwhile, they had become part of Cologne's "high society". Therefore it was no surprise that Carl Kracht was appointed Prince of the Cologne Carnival in 1884, one of the most popular local honours.

From early times, the hotel had very famous guests, such as William I, German Emperor, who attended the opening ceremony of the 'Dom'. In 1889, Carl Kracht went to Zurich, where he married Emma Pauline Baur, the daughter of the Swiss family Baur, who owned both the famous Hotel Baur au Lac as well as the Savoy Baur en Ville. One year after his wedding, Carl Kracht and his sister Hermine founded a limited company, which she left three years later. From that time Carl Kracht was the sole owner of the hotel in the heart of Cologne. Carl Kracht and his family were living in Zurich. He was managing the Hotel Baur au Lac. After his wedding, he appointed a general manager to take care of the Hotel Ernst´s operations.

The Hotel Ernst was rebuilt from 1908 to 1910 and re-opened as the Grand-Hotel Excelsior Hotel Ernst in order to provide unparalleled comfort: 100 rooms out of 250 had a private bathroom, at a time when even running water was unusual.

In 1918, only eight years after the re-opening, the British Army moved into the hotel after World War I and used it as their headquarter. On 31 December 1926 Excelsior Hotel Ernst celebrated its second re-opening after the British army left.

During World War II, a part of the hotel was destroyed and the owner family was very concerned to rebuild it as soon as the war was over. Yet, another re-opening took place after the end of World War II. In 1986 a new wing was constructed, the “Neubau”, with 29 exclusive rooms and suites. All these renovations were done under the supervision of the interior designer Count Siegwart Pilati. In 2001 opened a new restaurant; the taku, serving fine Asian cuisine in a contemporary atmosphere.

In 2007, and for the price of 7 million euros, 45 rooms were turned into 35 more spacious rooms in the “Hanse Flügel”.

Family Kracht Roulet is still today the owner of the Excelsior Hotel Ernst.

Since Mai 2004 Wilhelm Luxem is the general manager of the hotel.

External links

- website [http://www.excelsior-hotel-ernst.de]

- The Leading Hotels Of The World [http://www.lhw.com]

- Selektion Deutscher Luxushotels [http://www.selektion-deutscher-luxushotels.de]