The Swissôtel Berlin was a luxury hotel in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. The hotel overlooked the crossing of the ''
Kurfürstendamm
The Kurfürstendamm (; colloquially , ; ) is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. The broad, long boulevard can be considered the of Berlin and is lined with s ...
'' shopping avenue with ''Joachimstaler Straße'', in the city's
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
quarter. Both the
Zoo railway station and
Kurfürstendamm U-Bahn station were nearby. As well as hotel and conference facilities, the hotel included Restaurant 44, which features Swiss cuisine and overlooks the ''Kurfürstendamm'', as well as the Palermo bar and the Grande Gallerie cafe.
The hotel won two awards, the 2008 Germany's Leading Business Hotel and the 2007 Germany's Leading Conference Hotel. It was managed by
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, commonly known as Swissôtel, is a Swiss chain of luxury hotels owned by Accor, which acquired FRHI Hotels & Resorts in 2015.
The corporate offices for Swissôtel are located in the Prioria Business Centre on the pro ...
, which is part of the
FRHI Hotels & Resorts
FRHI Hotels & Resorts (previously known as Fairmont Raffles Hotels International) is a global hotel management company that is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. FRHI is the parent company that manages three brands of hotels: Fairmont, Raffles ...
group.
History
In early 1991, the
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
architects
Gerkan, Marg and Partners
Gerkan, Marg & Partners (gmp) is an international architectural company based in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1965 by Meinhard von Gerkan and , and now has more than 300 employees in 13 offices. In the same year the archi ...
[ Under info tab.] were retained to draw up a plan for the new Swissôtel Berlin and the commerce building, which led to a pre-notification in 1993. A number of versions with solutions for different unitizations were developed between 1995 and 1998. These plans coordinated between the Charlottenburg district office of Berlin, the building owner, and the architects. The planning and building permissions were finally received at the end of 1998. The hotel was under construction from August 1998 until 2001 and opened on 21 August 2001.
In October 2013, the hotel received a facelift of the public areas.
The hotel closed in November 2018 to be redeveloped as offices and business center.
Architecture and artwork
The building is high and has a video screen outside the hotel, facing ''Kurfürstendamm''. The lower three floors of the building are occupied by a branch of the fashion retailer
C&A, with the hotel above. The hotel's street level entrance hall faced ''Augsberger Strasse'' at its junction with ''Joachimstaler Straße'' and had a height of . Dedicated
elevator
An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
s linked this hall with the hotel lobby, which was located on the third floor above ground level. Meeting rooms, restaurants and bars opened off and surrounded the hotel lobby, which was two storeys tall and was lit by a glazed roof.
[
The hotel's 316 rooms were located on the fourth to tenth floors, and were accessed by a separate bank of elevators from the hotel lobby. The rooms surrounded an interior courtyard, which was floored by the glazed roof over the lobby.][
Swissôtel Berlin had an art gallery with changing exhibitions, and each of the 316 guestrooms feature the art of ]Markus Lüpertz
Markus Lüpertz (born 25 April 1941) is a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. He also publishes a magazine, and plays jazz piano. He is one of the best-known German contemporary artists. His subjects are characterized by suggest ...
, one of the best known German artists. His group sculptures '' The Judgement of Paris'' and ''Three Grazies'' are found in the hotel hallways, and the main sculpture ''Paris'' is in the restaurant terrace.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swissotel Berlin
Hotels in Berlin
Hotels established in 2001
Defunct hotels in Germany