Dear guests,

Many of you might ask yourselves why a guesthouse in Garmisch-Partenkirchen carries
the name “Hamburg”. The reason for this is connected to the story of the house.

At the beginning of the thirties, the Hamburg architect Richard Kloth built a guesthouse on his Garmisch property. He did this to insure the economic security for his unmarried daughter, who had trouble finding a job as a studied vocational school teacher. The idea was received well. Thus, Käthe Kloth and her college friend Meta Peters ran the house as a bed and breakfast from its beginnings. Since both families Kloth and Peters originated from Hamburg, the house was named according to their hometown, after they had moved from the “Waterkant” (edge of the water, as the north German coast is called) to the Werdenfelser Land. The Hamburg water carrier “Hummel Hummel”, placed in the entrance of the house, commemorates this even today.

The first entry into the Garmisch land registry is dated 1934. This point in time was chosen well. Although winter sports in the twenties had been very “en vogue” (as one used to say) for just a select lucky few, it was the Garmisch-Partenkirchen award of the Olympic Winter Games which brought the final breakthrough. So the guesthouse “Haus Hamburg” already rented rooms during the 1936 Winter Olympic Games! Old engravings of the city of Hamburg on the first flight of stairs remind us of that early period. A portrait of Ms. Kloth and Ms. Peters adorn the reading corner on the first floor.

My mother, Anneliese Groes, bought the house in 1967 from the Kloth family and Ms. Peters. She completely renovated it, since at that time the house only had one bathroom and two toilets! Originally, she had planned to give up another hotel, which she had leased and managed in the sixties, and wanted to run the guesthouse herself. But, as so often in life, situations change and her personal story took her to the Netherlands. Here, she spent the second half of her life with her Dutch husband in the Eindhoven area. Yet she had grown very fond of the “Haus Hamburg”, and it always was important to her. With much dedication she arranged for the guesthouse to steadily increase its comfort over the years, without sacrifice of the personal atmosphere. The house was managed by employees or was leased. On the first floor, at the entrance to the family room, you can find a portrait of my mother.

The pictures hanging in the second staircase are reminders of our connection to the Netherlands. Anneliese Groes died in the summer of 2007, passing on the estate to me. Since, our long-time host Anneliese Trechsler and I are striving to maintain the house for our guests with love and attention.

In the spring of 2012 the house moved into a new era. It has been lovingly renovated and sustainably refurbished. The wonderful sun terrace has been kept in accordance to the original plans of the Hamburg architect. My personal interest, to promote a love and care for reading especially in children, can be felt throughout the house. Reading corners invite to browse, and all seven bedrooms are dedicated to an author that has an affiliation to Bavaria. So children of all sizes can delve into the fantastic world of the Neverending Story in the “Michael Ende” room, or go on a criminological detective search through the health resort with Jörg Maurer. More on this you will find in our website menu entry “Literacy”.

In July 2012 the time had finally come. Our guesthouse became the holiday home “Chalet Haus Hamburg”! A place that invites families and friends to meet, to relax, to celebrate, and to mutually enjoy our wonderful alpine landscape.

Our guests are enthusiastic about the new concept. In April 2013 the “Chalet Haus Hamburg” was awarded five stars ***** by the German Touristic Association (Deutscher Tourismusverband DTV). We are happy to cultivate this high claim on quality, so that you will continue to feel satisfied in our special holiday home with the literary flair.

For Haus Hamburg's 80th Anniversary we presented in July 2014 a booklet in which witnesses of eight decades tell the story of a special house.

With sincerest greetings

Sabine Hinze