History
• 1887: Construction of the building as the headquater of Dresdner Bank (now Commerzbank) under the architect Ludwig Heim.
• 1889: Opening of the Dresner Bank Headquater. The four courners of the ballroom still immortalise the four main offices of the Bank located in Dresden, Bremen, London and Berlin.
• 1945: The building and all Dresdner Bank subsidaries in the soviet part of Berlin were closed. Confiscation of all Dresdner Bank properties by the Soviet occupation forces.
• 1952: Renovation of the Building after World War II under the architect Richard Paulick.
• 1968: Foundation of the Staatsbank der DDR (Central Bank of East Germany).
• 1990: Dissolution of the Bank following the reunification of Germany. After the reunification of Germany the Building remains empty and unused. Dresndner Bank tries without succes to get the building returned.
• 1998: The Building is used to make the fil « Lola rennt » by Tom Tykwer. The film included an invented « Deutsche Transfer Bank » where the father of the main figure Lola works. The Bank scenes were filmed in the empty bank building.
• 2003: Hochtief, a German construction company buys the property from the Berlin Oberfinanzdirektion for 30 million Euros.
• 2004: Real estate development of the former Dresdner Bank Building within the « Opern Carrée Project ». The budget is 150 million Euros.
• 2006: October 12: Opening of Hotel de Rome as a Rocco Forte Hotel. The former funds hall of the Dresdner Bank is now the Ballroom of the hotel.
History of the Rocco Forte Collection
• 1935: Charles Forte, an Italian immigrant to the UK, opens a « Milk Bar » on Regents street in London … the company becomes the Forte Hotel Group (Trusthouse Forte)
• 1993: the Forte Hotel group faces a hostile takeover bid from the Media Conglomerate Granada the founding family is ejected with a settlement payment of £350 million. Two of the 6 children, Rocco Forte and his younger sister Olga Polizzi decide to reinvent their fathers Hotel business.
• 1996 May: Sir Rocco Forte founds RF Hotels.
• 1997 Frebuary: Opening of Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh..
• 1997 December: Acquisition of Hotel Savoy in Florence.
• 1999 January: Acquisition of Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg.
• 2000 January: Acquisition of Hotel Amigo in Brussels.
• 2000 April: Opening of Hotel de Russie in Rome.
• 2003 July: Acquisition of Brown’s Hotel in London.
• 2006 March: Opening of Villa Kennedy (Villa Speyer) in Frankfurt.
• 2006 October: Opening of Hotel de Rome (formally seat of Dresdner Bank) in Berlin. The list only mentions those hotels in the Rocco Forte Collection, which are historic places and which are part of Palace Hotels of the World.com.
• 2007: Rocco Forte Hotels are renamed Rocco Forte Collection.
Article by « Grand Hotels of the World & VB.com », written from « Cremerie de Paris ».
