The Ringberghaus (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for: ''Ringberg house''), also often called Ringberghotel is a hotel east of the

city

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

. In the 1970s, it was one of the most controversially discussed new buildings in the Suhl area.

Location

The Ringberghaus is built atop the 746 m high Ringberg, giving the hotel a very exposed location with high visibility.

and Suhl-Goldlauter are located directly below the Ringberg, and the hotel can be seen from many vantage points of the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

, such as the "Plänckners Aussicht" at the

Großer Beerberg The Großer Beerberg is a mountain, , whose summit is the highest point in the Thuringian Forest and the state of Thuringia. It is located between the three villages of Heidersbach, Goldlauter and Gehlberg in the borough of Suhl. The mountain is ...

, the

Großer Hermannsberg The Großer Hermannsberg is a mountain, 867 metres high, south of the main ridge of the Thuringian Forest in the county of Schmalkalden-Meiningen in Germany. Location and area To the north and immediately below the mountain is the village of ...

or the Gebrannter Stein mountains.

History

Former usage

The Ringberghaus was originally erected by the

VdgB The Peasants Mutual Aid Association (german: Vereinigung der gegenseitigen Bauernhilfe, VdgB) was an East German mass organization for peasants and farmers, later also gardeners. It was founded in the 1945–1946 period and was a participant in t ...

, an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

farmers' association. The building was opened in 1979 to provide farmers from rural areas of the GDR with affordable accommodation for holidays in the

. Therefore, the Ringberghaus could only be booked with a special VdgB-issued voucher. After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, operation of the hotel was taken over by several private enterprises, and the hotel belonged to the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

chain for a brief time in the 1990s. Since 1997, the Ringberghaus is operated by the company ''RHB Ringberg Hotel Betriebsgesellschaft mbH''.

Ecological concerns

When the Ringberghaus was built, the top of the Ringberg mountain had to be levelled to make room for the construction. Most of the excavated material was dumped one kilometre north of the hotel near the ''Simson'' lodge. Due to this massive impact on the mountain itself and the fact that the excavated material was filled in near a popular hiking lodge, the construction of the hotel was criticised heavily, even for standards of the GDR.

The hotel today

The current hotel in the Ringberghaus (Ringberghotel) was a member of the ''Ringhotels'' cooperation from November 2003 until December 2006. Since January 1, 2007, the hotel is independently operated. The hotel currently has 290 rooms on 6 floors with more than 160,000 stays per year. It is one of the largest hotels in the area and an important economic factor to the region. Due to its extraordinary location, the hotel is well received by

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Hist ...

and families. It also sees usage as a

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

. Between 2007 and 2009 it hosted

Eurofurence Eurofurence (commonly abbreviated EF) is a furry convention held in changing places in Europe every year (in Berlin, Germany since 2014 and will remain there for the time being). It was originally started in 1995 as a private gathering by ninet ...

. In 2008 the management of Ringberghaus invited

to celebrate the 2008/2009 New Years celebrations in the theme of "Circus Ringberg." This continued for 2009/2010 (the last year of

at Ringberghaus) and 2010/2011 (where costumed/fursuited members of

were presented as aliens).

External links

Ringberghotel web site
{{coord, 50, 37, 00, N, 10, 43, 22, E, type:landmark_region:DE-TH, display=title Hotels in Germany Buildings and structures in Suhl 1979 establishments in Germany Hotels established in 1979 Hotel buildings completed in 1979 Buildings and structures completed in 1979