Interhotel was 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 ...

chain of luxury hotels. It was founded in 1965 as a chain. Originally, the hotel chain consisted of a hotel each in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

, two hotels in Chemnitz (then Karl-Marx-Stadt) and five hotels in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. 5-star hotels were exclusively for guests from non-socialist states, 4-star hotels were mainly for guests from

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...

countries, for example,

Park Inn Berlin The Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz is the tallest building and the eleventh-tallest structure in Berlin and the 29th-tallest building and tallest hotel-only building in Germany. The 37-floor high-rise is in the northeast of Alexande ...

(then Stadt Berlin) was built for Soviet people. There were also some 3-star hotels in smaller towns, such as "Hotel Elephant" in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. Practically all luxury hotels in East Germany were part of the Interhotel chain, notable exceptions being hotel "Neptun" in

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's busi ...

and

Cecilienhof Cecilienhof Palace (german: Schloss Cecilienhof) is a palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, built from 1914 to 1917 in the layout of an English Tudor manor house. Cecilienhof was the last palace built by the House of Hohenzollern that ruled ...

castle in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

. The Verband Deutscher Konsumgenossenschaften (VDK), the union of consumer co-operatives in the GDR also ran hotels, mainly 4 star and three star hotels such as the Konsum Erholungsheim in Oberhof, which is still part of what remains of the co-operative movement in Germany. After German reunification, most of the hotels were still run by Interhotel AG. In 1991, some hotels were sold to the Klingbeil group, and in December 2006 some were sold to the Blackstone Group. The Interhotel hotels were under the control of the East German state security service, the Stasi, under the Tourist Department. The Stasi tried to monitor the activities of international tourists, by sending prostitutes to audio- and video-controlled hotel rooms. They focused on hotels where political decisions were discussed, such as Hotel Bellevue in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

List of Interhotel hotels

Berlin

* Hotel Berolina - Opened 1964, closed 1995, demolished 1996 * Hotel Unter den Linden - Opened 1966, demolished 2006 * Hotel Stadt Berlin - Opened 1970, renamed Forum Hotel Berlin 1993, renamed Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz 2003 * Hotel Metropol - Opened 1977, renamed Maritim Hotel Metropol 1992, rebuilt and renamed Maritim proArte Hotel Berlin 2000 * Palasthotel - Opened 1979, renamed Radisson SAS Hotel Berlin 1992, closed 2000, demolished 2001 for construction of a new Radisson SAS Hotel Berlin, renamed Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin 2009 * Grand Hotel Berlin - Opened 1987, renamed Maritim Grand Hotel Berlin 1992, renamed The Westin Grand Berlin 1997 * Domhotel - Opened 1990, renamed Hilton Berlin 1991

Dresden

* Hotel Astoria - Opened 1950, closed 1992, demolished 1998 * Motel Dresden - Opened 1967, renamed Hotel am Bismarckturm 1990, closed and demolished soon after * Hotel Bastei - Opened May 1969, renamed ibis Dresden Bastei 1992, renamed ibis Dresden Zentrum 2017 in joint operation with the Königstein * Hotel Königstein - Opened Autumn 1969, renamed ibis Dresden Königstein 1992, renamed ibis Dresden Zentrum 2017 in joint operation with the Bastei * Hotel Lilienstein - Opened Autumn 1969, renamed ibis Dresden Lilienstein 1992, renamed The Student Hotel Dresden 2018, renamed Dresden Zentrum Hotel 2022, becomes Holiday Inn Express in 2024, following renovations * Hotel Newa - Opened 1970, renamed Hotel Mercure Newa Dresden 1992, renamed Hotel Pullman Dresden Newa 2008 * Hotel Bellevue - Opened 1985, renamed Maritim Hotel Bellevue 1992, renamed Hotel Bellevue 1996, renamed The Westin Bellevue Dresden 2000, renamed Bilderberg Bellevue Hotel Dresden 2020 * Hotel Dresdner Hof - Opened 1990, renamed Hilton Dresden 1992

Erfurt

* Hotel Erfurter Hof - Built 1904, opened as an Interhotel in 1965, closed 1995 * Hotel Kosmos - Opened 1980, renamed Radisson SAS Hotel Erfurt 1995, renamed Radisson Blu Hotel Erfurt 2009

Gera

* Hotel Gera - Opened 1967, renamed Maritim Hotel Gera 1992, demolished 1997

Halle

* Hotel Stadt Halle - Opened 1966, renamed Maritim Hotel Halle 1992, converted to refugee housing 2016, closed 2017

Jena

* Hotel International - Opened 1963, became an Interhotel 1965, demolished 1997

Karl-Marx-Stadt

* Hotel Chemnitzer Hof - Opened 1930, became an Interhotel 1965, renamed Günnewig Hotel Chemnitzer Hof 1992, renamed Hotel Chemnitzer Hof 2017 * Hotel Moskau - Opened 1962, became an Interhotel 1965, renamed Günnewig Hotel Europa 1992, renamed Hotel an der Oper 2008 * Hotel Kongress - Opened 1974, renamed Mercure Hotel Kongress Chemnitz 1992, renamed Dorint Kongresshotel Chemnitz 2018

Leipzig

* Hotel International - Opened 1890 as Hotel Fürstenhof, renamed Hotel International after WWII, became an Interhotel 1965, closed 1993, reopened as Hotel Fürstenhof Kempinski Leipzig 1996, renamed Hotel Fürstenhof 2000 * Hotel Astoria - Opened 1915, became an Interhotel 1965, renamed Maritim Hotel Astoria 1992, closed 1996 * Hotel Stadt Leipzig - Opened 1964, became an Interhotel 1965, closed 1992 and demolished for construction of Hotel Novotel Leipzig City * Hotel Deutschland - Opened 1965, renamed Hotel Am Ring 1973, renamed Hotel Deutschland 1990, renamed Hotel Mercure am Augustusplatz 1992, renamed Radisson SAS Hotel Leipzig 2007, renamed Radisson Blu Hotel Leipzig 2009 * Hotel Zum Löwen - Opened 1965, renamed Holiday Inn Garden Court Leipzig City Centre 1995, later renamed Best Western Hotel Leipzig City Center * Hotel Merkur - Opened 1981, renamed InterContinental Leipzig 1993, renamed The Westin Leipzig 2003

Magdeburg

* Hotel International - Opened 1963, became an Interhotel 1965, demolished 1993, Maritim Hotel Magdeburg opened on the site 1995

Neubrandenburg

* Hotel Vier Tore - Opened 1950s, became an Interhotel 1989/90, renamed Radisson SAS Hotel Neubrandenburg, renamed Radisson Blu Hotel Neubrandenburg 2009, demolished 2016

Oberhof

* Hotel Panorama - Opened 1969, renamed Ramada Treff Hotel Panorama Oberhof, then Treff Hotel Panorama Oberhof, then AHORN Panorama Hotel Oberhof 2018

Potsdam

* Hotel Potsdam - Opened 1969, renamed Mercure Hotel Potsdam 1992

Rostock

* Hotel Warnow - Opened 1967, renamed Radisson SAS Hotel Rostock 1992, demolished 2001 for construction of a new Radisson SAS Hotel Rostock which opened in 2005, renamed Radisson Blu Hotel Rostock 2009

Suhl

* Hotel Thüringen-Tourist - Opened 1968, renamed Hotel Thüringen Suhl, later renamed Michel Hotel Suhl

Weimar

* Hotel Elephant Founded 1696, current structure opened 1938, became an Interhotel 1966 * Hotel Belvedere - Opened 1992 as Hilton Weimar, renamed Leonardo Hotel Weimar 2007

Gallery

Image:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0812-301%2C_Berlin%2C_%22Grand_Hotel%22.jpg, Grand Hotel Berlin, 1987 Image:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P0321-0010%2C_Dresden%2C_Prager_Stra%C3%9Fe%2C_Neubauten%2C_Hotels_%28cropped%29.jpg, Hotels Bastei, Königstein and Lilienstein, 1975 Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0605-300, Leipzig, Hotel "Merkur".jpg, Hotel Merkur in

, 1981 Image:14-01-27-landtag-brandenburg-RalfR-022.jpg, Mercure Hotel Potsdam, 2014 Image:Weimar Hotel Elephant.jpg, Hotel Elephant in Weimar

References

{{Authority control 1965 establishments in East Germany Hotel chains in Germany Hotel and leisure companies of Germany Companies of East Germany