Rheinhotel Dreesen is a hotel in Rüngsdorf, a district of the Bonn town district Bad Godesberg which was established at the end of the 19th century. The big construction stands out by his imposing facade with Jugendstil elements at the Rhine promenade of Bad Godesber and is on account of his situation, his historical meaning and his numerous prominent guests a famous lodging.
The hotel offers elegant premises embodied in stylish architecture with modern comfort. Business people can find the necessary calm and conference facilities.
The hotel belongs of the hotel cooperation "Ringhhotels".
Original Text:
"Das Hotel wurde 1893/94 von Fritz Dreesen gebaut, der – wie bereits sein Vater – hier zuvor eine Sommerwirtschaft mit einem Badeplatz betrieben hat. Das Hotel wurde immer wieder baulich attraktiver gestaltet, so auch durch ein 1934 eingebautes bewegliches Glasdach über dem großen Terrassengarten.
Die direkte Lage am Rhein, der bei Hochwasser die unteren Räumen unter Wasser setzen kann, und der einmalige Blick auf das Siebengebirge zogen immer wieder weltweit bekannte Gäste an. Dazu trägt bei, dass die Familie Dreesen seit weit über 100 Jahren das Hotel selbst leitet.
Besondere historische Bedeutung hat das Hotel im Zusammenhang mit dem 2. Weltkrieg erlangt. 1938 konferierten hier Chamberlain und Hitler zur Beilegung der Sudetenkrise. Im Krieg waren ausländische Diplomaten interniert. Nach dem Krieg war es Sitz des französischen Hohen Kommissars."
EN:
"The hotel was built in 1893/94 by Fritz Dreesen. The hotel was formed structurally more attractively over and over again, thus also by a movable glass roof built-in in 1934 about the big terraced garden.
The direct situation on the Rhine which can put the lower rooms under water with high water, and the unique look at the Siebengebirge pulled worldwide known guests over and over again. It contributes that the family Dreesen leads the hotel for more than 100 years.
Special historical meaning has attained the hotel in connection with the 2nd world war. In 1938 Chamberlain and Hitler conferred to the settlement of the Sudeten crisis. During the war foreign diplomats were interned. After the war it was a seat of the French high commissioner."
The sign was established by the VHH (Verein für Heimatpflege und Heimatgeschichte Bad Godesberg e.V.). A QR-Code leads to the website.
Timeline and history of the hotel:
"Grand opening of the new hotel, designed in the Wilhelmine style, on 3. Mai 1894.
The Hotel Dreesen, the best hotel in town ever since, benefited from Bad Godesberg's development into a spa town for what was a wealthy clientele back then, and contributed greatly to promoting early tourism.
In those days, a menu featuring over 80 meals ranging from 2 to 6 Reichsmark was nothing unusual, as were a 6-day working week, a 16-hour working day with one hour's break, and 3 days notice ( as historically proven by the still existent employment records
of the time).
In 1940, the stock take stated that the hotel's cellar boasted 84,000 bottles of the finest
wines. Once occupied by the American forces, though, only a fraction of this.
VIP guests from politics, business, sports, the arts and culture, as well as the 'moneyed nobility' from the Ruhr industrial region have always frequented the hotel, here a short selection:
European aristocracy and statesmen:
The family of the German Kaiser, Paul von Hindenburg, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Silvia Queen of Sweden, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bruno Kreisky, Giscard d’Estaing, Francois Mitterrand, Pérez de Cuéllar, Andreas Papandreou, Gustav Stresemann, Friedrich Ebert, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Joseph Luns, Theodor Heuss, Heinrich Lübke and every President of the Federal Republic of Germany ever since, Konrad Adenauer and every chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany ever since, and a great number of German Cabinet ministers.
...and artists and other celebrities:
Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Caracciola, Gustav Gründgens, Martin Held, Francis Durbridge, Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Will Quadflieg, Marcel Marceau, Jean Marais, Bernhard Grzimek, Danny Kaye, O.E. Hasse, Lil Dagover, Paul Bocuse, Herbert von Karajan, Mario del Monaco, Rudolf Augstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Aldo Moro, Caterina Valente, Amintore Fanfani, Robert Kempner.
1926
Adolf Hitler stayed at the Dreesen for the first time, still a stateless writer in those days, at the instigation of his later deputy, Rudolf Hess, who was then a student at a close-by boarding school in Bad Godesberg as his parents lived in Alexandria. Hess and his parents knew and valued the Dreesen as a top-class hotel, making it their preferred place to stay along the Rhine.
A particularly special date was 22 September 1938, when Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain held preliminary talks on the 'Munich Pact' in order to avert the 'Sudeten Crisis'.
1934 saw the construction of the movable glass roof (size almost 2,000 m²) over the 'Kastaniengarten', a masterpiece of advanced technical engineering at the time of its construction, and still in use to this day.
During the Second World War, the hotel served as an internment camp for 100 diplomats.
On the eve of 7 March 1945, the German General Schimpf and his staff moved in to the Dreesen, handing Bad Godesberg to the Americans the next day without a fight.
In consequence, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the then Supreme Commander of the Allied forces and later President of the United States, stayed at the Dreesen for a week.
On 15 July 1949, the Dreesen was requisitioned to become the seat of the French High Commissioner Francois-Poncet.
The hotel continued to be requisitioned until 1952, and was finally 'released from occupation' on 26 September 1952.
Following a complete refurbishment at great cost, both in terms of capital and strength, the Dreesen was reopened as a hotel on 17 November 1952."
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