Hotel Esplanade Berlin
Encyclopedia
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
’s busy transport and nightlife hub Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
. During its colourful and turbulent history it went from being one of the German capital’s most luxurious and celebrated hotels to a bombed-out ruin lost in the wastelands alongside the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. A section of it still survives today, albeit as a fragment incorporated into the soaring modern complex of the Sony Center
Sony Center
The Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 2000.-History:The site was originally a bustling city centre in the early 20th century. Most of the buildings were destroyed or damaged during World War II...
.
Construction and design
The Hotel was built between 1907 and 1908 by the Fürstengruppe (Hohenlohe, Fürstenberg und Henckel von Donnersmarck) in accordance with the plans of Otto Rehnig, architect of the nearby and similarly fated Hotel ExcelsiorHotel Excelsior
Hotel Excelsior occupied number 112/113, Königgrätzer Straße on Askanischer Platz in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg...
. When it opened in 1908 the construction cost an unprecedented 23 million Reichmarks. The architectural style, with its richly ornamented sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, was that of the Belle Epoque
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...
, and the interior palatial design incorporated elements from the Neo-Baroque and Neo-Rococo. The hotel accommodated numerous magnificent halls, amongst these was the Kaisersaal (the emperor’s hall). It was here that Kaiser Wilhelm II held an exclusive men’s evening. One of the most celebrated aspects of the hotel was a 1600 m² garden designed by garden architect Willi Wendt, which lay in the inner courtyard.
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
stayed here.
Once destroyed and twice revived
In the winter of 1944/45 90% of the Esplanade was destroyed in bombing raids that crushed the once thriving hub of Potsdamer Platz. The sections that did manage to survive relatively unscathed were the Kaisersaal and the breakfastBreakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
hall, as well as the stairwell and wash rooms. After the war they were restored and together formed part of the original “Esplanade Hall Building”. The ceiling of the Palm Courtyard was restored and one of the other halls, the Silver Hall, was redesigned with its walls and ceiling decorated with silver and pillars adorned with abstract figures and patterns. And so, amidst what was then a rubble-strewn wilderness, the revived Esplanade became a hive of public activity once more. During the 1950s it was used variously as a restaurant and for fancy dress dances and carnival balls, and then later also for fashion shows.
However, in 1961 the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
was erected only a short distance away. As a consequence the lively programme of festivities was promptly curtailed.
Nevertheless, although now adrift from the rest of the city it was, with police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
permission, still accessible and so began a third lease of life as a popular set for films and television programmes. The interior can be seen in such international films as Cabaret
Cabaret (film)
Cabaret is a 1972 musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, under the ominous presence of the growing National Socialist Party....
(1972) and Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire is a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress...
(1987).
The preservation of historical monuments
After the fall of the wall in 1989 the remaining part of the hotel was safeguarded as a listed historical monument. However, when the resurrection of Potsdamer Platz was underway and the first plans for the new Sony CenterSony Center
The Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 2000.-History:The site was originally a bustling city centre in the early 20th century. Most of the buildings were destroyed or damaged during World War II...
were drawn up, this factor was not considered; the Kaisersaal stood in the way and was therefore earmarked for demolition. In 1993 a plan was developed to move the Kaisersaal 75 metres (246 feet) and integrated into the Center itself. This was carried out in March 1996 at a cost of 75 million marks. The Breakfast Hall was dismantled into 500 pieces and then later put back together again; this can be found today in Café Josty
Café Josty
Café Josty was a Berlin café located on the Potsdamer Platz. At the beginning of 2001, a new Café Josty was opened at the Sony Center not far from its original location.- Nineteenth Century :...
.