ALLGEMEINE HOTELINFORMATIONEN

Heritage & Tradition
On 24 February 1897, the South German gastronome Friedrich Haerlin purchased a
building in the city center for the tidy sum of 420 100 Marks and opened "Hotel Vier
Jahreszeiten". He had long dreamt of owning his very own hotel, and after celebrating his
fortieth birthday on 24 February 1897 he took inspiration from an old German proverb
"wisdom comes with 40" and resolved on the purchase. He had originally wanted to spend
no more than a further 30 000 Marks for new furniture and curtains, but his plans were
foiled by the Hamburg authorities, who insisted on an entire refurbishment of the
premises. In the end he had to invest a further 100 000 Marks in his new hotel.
At that time, he could not have had even the faintest idea that his hotel would become
internationally famous. Yet, he was quite clear what he wanted to do with the narrow house
on the Inner Alster Lake. With his typical "all Swabian" attitude, he managed to endear
Hamburg's authorities as well as the Hanseatics as regular guests.
The narrow house was transformed into one of Hamburg's finest buildings, creating the
impression of being constructed as a harmonic unit. In actual fact, both Haerlin senior as
well as his son Fritz (who took over the hotel in 1936) built a number of extensions over
the years, purchasing the adjacent houses, breaking down walls and integrating more rooms
and restaurants.
In 1912 the former reception was opened as the "Society Hall with Alster View", today's
Wohnhalle. Restaurant Haerlin was opened in 1914, followed by Jahreszeiten Grill which
still showcases its original Art déco style from 1925. At the beginning of the 1930s, the
entire building was crowned with a saddleback roof. It was during this period, when Café
Condi and the Jahreszeiten Cellar - today's Restaurant Doc Cheng's® - as well as the
parking garage were also constructed.
Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten soon became internationally renowned. Celebrities from film,
politics, high society and even European royals became regular guests at Inner Alster Lake.
The hotel’s philosophy is simply "Service, Service, Service." Founder Friedrich Haerlin is
believed to once have told his wife: "It is almost the same as inviting guests to our home:
Everything is nice and clean, the table is laid and the dinner is prepared well and in
Neuer Jungfernstieg 9-14
20354 Hamburg, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 40 34 94 0
Fax +49 (0) 40 34 94 2600
[email protected]
www.fairmont-hvj.de
HVJ GmbH & Co.KG Amtsgericht Siegburg HRA 5604
St.-Nr. 220/5726/1320 USt.-ID-Nr. DE 815 409 883
HypoVereinsbank Konto: 156 241 22 BLZ: 200 300 00
BIC: HYVEDEMM300 IBAN: DE53 2003 0000 0015 6241 22
Persönlich haftende Gesellschafterin: HVJ Verwaltung GmbH
Amtsgericht Siegburg HRB 11584 Geschäftsführer: Horst M. Hoen, Ingo C. Peters
sufficient quantity. We have dressed ourselves up nicely and are looking forward to our
guests. It is no different in a hotel - just on a larger scale."
In 1997 General Manager Ingo C. Peters started his tenure at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten and
continued to live by this philosophy. Ingo C. Peters and his team know that together they
have an obligation to a special tradition and are proud not only of having made a
contribution to shaping the face of Hamburg over the years, but also of having set
standards in the international hospitality industry.
The Haerlin family sold the hotel to the Japanese Aoki Corporation in 1989 and in the
summer of 1997, it was again sold to Singapore-based hotel chain Raffles International
Hotels & Resorts. Nine years later, the owner of Raffles International Hotels & Resorts,
Colony Capital, announced a joint takeover of the hotel chain Fairmont Hotels & Resorts,
Inc. together with Kingdom Hotels International. On 30 April 2007, famous Hotel Vier
Jahreszeiten was renamed as Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Hamburg.
In early 2013 the white building at Binnen Alster Lake was again sold to Dohle
Vermögensverwaltung. With the holistic renovations of all of the hotel’s 156 guest rooms
and suites as well as Restaurant Haerlin, Café Condi, Wohnhalle and Vier Jahreszeiten Spa
& Fitness another chapter in the glorious chronicles of Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten
was opened.
Neuer Jungfernstieg 9-14
20354 Hamburg, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 40 34 94 0
Fax +49 (0) 40 34 94 2600
[email protected]
www.fairmont-hvj.de
HVJ GmbH & Co.KG Amtsgericht Siegburg HRA 5604
St.-Nr. 220/5726/1320 USt.-ID-Nr. DE 815 409 883
HypoVereinsbank Konto: 156 241 22 BLZ: 200 300 00
BIC: HYVEDEMM300 IBAN: DE53 2003 0000 0015 6241 22
Persönlich haftende Gesellschafterin: HVJ Verwaltung GmbH
Amtsgericht Siegburg HRB 11584 Geschäftsführer: Horst M. Hoen, Ingo C. Peters