Otto Karl Eitel (May 19, 1901 – 1983) was a hotel executive in Chicago.

Origin

Otto K. Eitel was the second child of Karl Eitel (1871-1954) and his first wife ''Marie Louise Eitel née Boldenweck'' (1875–1913). His father emigrated at age 20 from

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in Germany to Chicago, founded there with his brother Emil Eitel the Bismarck Hotel Co., to which belonged the ''Bismarck Hotel'' and the large beer garden ''Marigold Gardens''. Otto's mother was the daughter of the building contractor ''Louis Henry Boldenweck'' (1835–1896), who was born in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

and emigrated with his parents and six siblings to Chicago in 1854, and of her Chicago-born mother ''Luise Henriette Kober'' (1843–1923), who was also of German origin.

Life

After education and vocational training in the U.S. and in Germany Otto K. Eitel volunteered in the Hotel Astor on Times Square in New York, which was founded in the same year by the German emigrants ''William C. Muschenheim'' (1855–1918) and ''Frederick A. Muschenheim'', and where his uncle Max Eitel had also volunteered in 1904–1906. In 1926, he became director of the Bismarck hotel, which belonged to his father Karl and his uncle Emil. In 1933, he took over the management of

Stevens Hotel The Hilton Chicago (also known as Chicago Hilton and Towers) is a centrally-located luxury hotel in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The hotel is a Chicago landmark that overlooks Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park, Lake Michigan, and the Museum Ca ...

, founded in 1927, which was situated right on Lake Michigan and then the largest hotel in the world. This position, he held at least until 1939, also after the insolvency of the Stevens family in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1935. In 1949, he assumed the office of President of the Bismarck Hotel Co., which he held until the sale of the hotel in 1956 to the hotel and sports entrepreneur Arthur Wirtz. File: HotelAstor.jpg , Hotel Astor, New York, postcard about 1900–1910. File: Stevens Hotel, Chicago, 02.jpg , Advertisement for Monel with a portrait of Otto. K. Eitel, 1937.

Honors

As a member of the Schwabenverein "he has distinguished himself in the years after the Second World War in particular, being an avid supporter of charitable gifts donations to the old country". For this, the German President Theodor Heuss conferred upon him in 1953 the Grand Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. During his trip to America, the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer came on April 14, 1953, to Chicago and stayed twice in the Bismarck Hotel. On this occasion, he met the president of the Bismarck Hotel Otto K. Eitel and handed him the Great Merit Cross. On April 14, 1953, Adenauer held in the Bismarck Hotel a press conference. Afterwards, Otto K. Eitel accompanied Adenauer on his walk to the City Hall. In the evening, Adenauer met again Otto K. Eitel in Eitel's Palace Theatre in a benefit concert "for the benefit of refugees from East Berlin".

Publications

Together with his wife, Otto K. Eitel published in 1944 for the first time their music calendar ''From Bach to Gershwin'', "a beautiful edition showing graphically the arc of years, which spans the lives of the greatest composers in the world since the 18th century". #Amtsblatt 1953.1. * Otto K Eitel: ''From Bach to Gershwin. Two and one half centuries of music up to 1944'', Chicago 944 * Otto K Eitel; Joseph Feher; Raymond F DaBoll; E Willis Jones: ''From Bach to Gershwin. Two and one half centuries of music'', Chicago: Bismarck Hotel 1951.

References

Bibliography

* ''Adenauer in den USA: Chicago'', Deutsche Wochenschau, documentary film 195

* ''Journey to America. Collected speeches, statements, press, radio and tv interviews by Konrad Adenauer, during his visit to the United States and Canada, April 6–18, 1953'', Washington, DC 1953, pages 94–112, page 106: photo of Otto K. Eitel talking with Konrad Adenauer. * Fred J Ahsley: ''The house of Eitel. Aristocrats in hospitality'', Chicago 947? * ''Sechs Stuttgarter schrieben wichtiges Kapitel amerikanischer Hotelgeschichte''. In: ''Amtsblatt der Stadt Stuttgart'' No. 45, November 12, 1953, page 13. * ''Ehrung eines Schwaben in Chicago''. In: ''Amtsblatt der Stadt Stuttgart'' July 2, 1953. * Max Martin Brehm: ''Mit dem Bundeskanzler in USA'', Höchstadt (Aisch) 1953, pages 86–90, unnumbered pages with illustrations. * Grave database „Find a Grave“. * ''The national cyclopedia of American biography CAB', volume 41, Clifton, NJ 1967, page 511. * ''New Yorker Staatszeitung und Herold'' November 12, 1953. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eitel, Otto K. 1901 births 1983 deaths American hoteliers American people of German descent Hotel executives Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century American businesspeople