08 19 2008
803
Kempinski, Berthold
The Kempinski era began with a determined jewish man named Berthold Kempinski from Breslau who set out to conquer the world. He arrived in Berlin around 1870, where he opened a wine store in the Friedrichstraße 178, registered in the register of companies in 1872.
Kempinski operated a wine tavern with his wife Helene which became more and more a wine restaurant. The gastronomy soon proved to be a lucrative source of income and provided the Kempinski´s with a solid fundament. The place soon became too small and having achieved a secure level of prosperity they bought real estate in the Leipziger Strasse. The Kempinski´s had no male heir. For this reason their son in law, daughter Frieda´s husband, Richard Unger entered the company. Richard Unger proved to be very business minded. Berthold Kempinski withdrew and went into a well earned retirement and died in 1910. Up until the first world war Unger, who now owned the company, had managed to build an enormous real estate complex revolving around his company. This he turned into a large gastronomical business. As the area around the street Kurfürstendamm became more and more popular, Unger bought and managed a restaurant at Ku´damm 27 - the present-day Kempinski Hotel Bristol Berlin. In 1928 the Kempinski Enterprise took over the management of the "Haus Vaterland" on Potsdamer Square and introduced a sensational new concept. Entertainment gastronomie like Berlin had never seen before. Epicurean delicacies were served over four floors. These gastronomical arrangements were topped with artistical performances. This made the name Kempinski well known all over Germany. During the Nazi regime the Kempinski did not enjoy good times. Business of the company nose dived. Richard Unger and his wife emigrated to the United States. The Kempinski Enterprise was leased to the Aschinger Company for 30 years but kept the name Kempinski. After the war Friedrich Unger ( grandson from Kempinski) returned to Germany to try to win back some of the business. He succeded with the restaurant Kempinski on Ku´damm 27. 1951 marks the beginning of the Hotel Kempinski era! Supported by the Marshall-Plan a hotel was allowed to be build. In February 1951, in the presence of the Mayor of Berlin Dr. Walther Schreiber, the corner stone of the new Kempinski hotel was laid on the plot of land number 27 and went open up for business in 1952. At the same time Kempinski´s grand son merged his share of the business with a Hotel Corporation who already ran hotels called Bristol and Kaiserhof. Thus the company acquired the name Bristol. The Kempinski Hotel Bristol berlin is the parent of the internationally active hotel chain (hotel company).
