History
• 1825: Ludwig I (1786-1868) becomes King of Bavaria. The King remains in history due to the construction of the Munich Ludwigstrasse and his love affair with the irish dancer Lola Montez.
• 1839: Ludwig I of Bavaria has the desire to see a Grand Hotel in Munich acquisition of the guesthouse on Promenadeplatz by the Munich entrepreneur Joseph Anton von Maffei. the architect Friedrich von Gärtner draws plans for a Hotel.
• 1841: Opening of the Hotel
• 1858: A second Grand Hotel opens in Munich, with the favours of the next king Maximilian II, the Hotel Vierjahreszeiten.
• 1886: Luitpold von Bayern becomes Prince Regent of Bavaria (uncle of Louis II of Bavaria).
Volkardt Era
• 1897: The Hotel is acquired by the confectioner Herrmann Volkhardt for 2,850,000 gold marks. At his time the hotel has one hundred rooms and two ballrooms.
• 1909: Herrmann jr Volkhardt succeds his father after his death.
• 1929: The Volkhard family manages to keep the Bayerische Hof besides difficult depression times.
• 1939 Septembre 1: Start of World War Two.
• 1942 November 9: The first bombs fall on Munich.
• 1944 April 24-25: Bayerischer Hof was destroyed by allied aerial bombing.
• 1945 Mai 8: End of World War Two.
• 1945: Falk Volkhardt opens the first restaurants in central Munich in the beautiful Spiegelsaal (Mirror Hall) which by miracle had survived the war under the ruins of the destroyed Hotel.
• 1946: Reconstruction of the Hotel.
• 1959: Falk Volkhard takes over the management of the Hotel in the third generation.
• 1969: Acquisition of the adjascent Palais Montgelas.
• 1972: Olympic Summer Games in Munich, renovation of the Palais Montelas completed in time.
• 1992: Innegrit Volkhardt takes over the management of the Hotel in the fourth generation.
• 2004: Bayerischer Hof finishes a vast 10 year renovation program.
Article by « Grand Hotels of the World & VB.com », written from « Cremerie de Paris ».
