Hotel Europäische Hof Heidelberg, the first milestone of the Historic Cafés Route (HCR) in Germany

Germany joins the Historic Cafés Route family in Europe. The first tourist establishment included in the prestigious Council of Europe accredited route is the famous Europäische Hof Hotel in Heidelberg. It is a hotel representative of the history of the famous German university town, which has a centuries-old tradition in higher education. The hotel offers a special experience and a high quality of tourist services through the attention to detail, good taste and refined style that characterise this symbolic place for Germany and the whole of Europe. The popular tourist route could next year include other cafes, restaurants and hotels in the “Golden Cafes” category in Berlin, Hamburg, Albstadt, Baden-Baden and other German regions.

Arnold Klingeis

“It is with great pleasure that I send you this press release as part of my year-end report as Ambassador of the Council of Europe, responsible for the “Historic Cafés Route (HCR)” in Romania and for the expansion of our international network in Europe and worldwide, our intention to launch the HCR for Germany from Heidelberg, in the beautiful and historic European Court in Heidelberg.

My visit to Heidelberg led to interesting discussions and reinforced my conviction that the Hotel Europäischer Hof in Heidelberg, as the first step in the development of the HCR in Germany, it is emblematic and representative for Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg and even for the Federal Republic of Germany. As a former student of the Heidelberg School of Hotel Management, I had the honour and great pleasure to get to experience Heidelberg, a vibrant city that has shaped and inspired me in many ways. To sum up my experience in Heidelberg, I would quote the internationally known slogan “I lost my heart in Heidelberg”. I especially thank my professors at the Heidelberg School of Hotel Management and, above all, my colleagues in the global alumni network, who work as managers in the world’s touristical centres and who wholeheartedly passed on what they learned in Heidelberg to their teams.”

Dr. Caroline von Kretschmann

“Heidelberg’s Europaeischer Hof, a place of rich individual and collective history and cultural encounters, reflects the soul of our city in many ways. Here, where we want to combine tradition with modernity, we are proud to be part of the Historic Cafés Route and celebrate the combination of culture and hospitality with warmth and dedication.”

Dr. Caroline von Kretschmann / General Manager Europaeischer Hof Heidelberg”

Erik Pratsch

“I am delighted that Mr Arnold Klingeis, an alumnus of hotel management in Heidelberg, will be able to successfully express his skills as an educated and proven expert in the field of hotel management in a pioneering position in the Council of Europe, the oldest international European organisation founded in 1949.
The fact that Mr. Klingeis was able to establish genuine links in Heidelberg in 2023 with Dr. Caroline von Kretschmann (Hotel Der Europäische Hof) and Mrs. Claudia Kischka (Hip Hotel / Restaurant “Zum güldenen Schaf”) shows his attachment to this attractive, traditional and also international tourist city.”
Erik Pratsch / Former senior technical teacher / master chef

Arnold G. Klingeis – HCR Ambassador to Romania: “The Europäischer Hof in Heidelberg is certainly a good choice as the first milestone for the establishment of the Historic Cafés Route, as it embodies a living history”

In 1865, Joseph Schrieder opened the Hotel de l’Europe, which he built in the centre of Heidelberg on the site of the former St. Anna-Kirchhof paupers’ cemetery, which had closed in 1845. In the years that followed, the hotel changed hands several times and was constantly modernised. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, it already had its own steam power plant to supply electricity and was one of the most modern hotels of its time. Fritz Gabler bought the hotel in 1906 and expanded it again considerably. The rooms received private bathrooms and were heated by a central steam heating system. Fritz Gabler also had a driver’s lodge with twelve garages added to the hotel. Between 1928 and 1929, a new side wing was built with 28 rooms, suites and a conference room on the ground floor. The Viktoria Hotel across the street was also acquired.

Hotel after opening

After the Second World War, the Viktoria, Manheimer Hof and Hotel Traube in Darmstadt, which belonged to the Gabler family, had to be handed over. This was due to destruction during the war or confiscation by the occupying troops. Fritz Gabler died in August 1953. In 1955 the Heidelberger Hof, which had been confiscated by the Americans, was returned to his wife Luise Gabler, who reopened it at Easter 1957 after two years of renovation. In the early 1960s, grandson Ernst-Friedrich von Kretschmann returned from the USA and took over the running of the hotel with his wife Sylvia in 1965. Luise Gabler died on 14 December 1981. With the establishment of the hotel operating and rental company Der Europäische Hof Hotel Europa Heidelberg GmbH on 20 December 1982, Ernst-Friedrich von Kretschmann became the sole managing director.

At the beginning of 2012/2013, Ernst-Friedrich von Kretschmann handed over the management of the operating and leasing company to his daughter, Caroline von Kretschmann, after 47 years as Managing Director. Her brother, Oskar von Kretschmann junior, managing director at Morgan Stanley Bank AG, is involved in the company’s development as a shareholder. Sylvia von Kretschmann, mother of Caroline and Oskar von Kretschmann, is the second general manager and a member of the hotel’s management team. Ernst-Friedrich von Kretschmann serves the management as an advisor.

The Europäische Hof is a privately run five-star hotel. Around 170 employees look after guests in the hotel’s 118 rooms and suites. In the past, celebrities from the world of film, television, sport and music as well as politicians and literary personalities have stayed at the Europäischer Hof. Around two thirds of the hotel’s guests come from abroad. The hotel is a cooperation partner of the Heidelberg Spring Festival.

In 1965 and 1966, a third floor with 14 hotel rooms and junior suites was added to the side wing of the building. The following year, the heating system was converted from coal to oil, and the restaurant and former dance bar were converted into a cocktail bar. In 1975, the Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 1/Sofienstraße 29 building was constructed with office and retail space and an underground public car park (120 parking spaces). Between 1986 and 1988, Sofienstraße 27 and the garden building were constructed, a fourth floor was added to the side wing and the underground public car park was extended to 200 spaces. On 21 October 2000, the hotel’s “PANORAMA SPA” wellness and fitness area was opened on the fourth and fifth floors, with a 600-square-metre swimming pool and a roof terrace. The 200-square-metre penthouse apartment was completed on 28 July 2006. In 2014, the fourth floor of Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 1, with two commercial units and an area of 500 square metres, was converted into four fully furnished apartments for long-term stays of hotel guests and clinic patients.

The hotel includes the gourmet restaurant “Die Kurfürstenstube” – opened in 1866 – the “Sommerrestaurant” in summer and the “Europa Bar”, which is open all year round. The hotel has a spa and fitness centre and ten function rooms.

Cultural routes certified by the Council of Europe after the year of certification, the cultural essence of the old continent, cultural routes which have been considered by the member states of the Council of Europe as best representing Europe’s history, evolution, crises and heritage:

01. Pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela (1987)
02. Hansa (1991)
03. Route of the Vikings (1993)
04. Via Francigena (1994)
05. Routes of EL legado andalusi (1997)
06. The Phoenician Route (2003)
07. Iron Route in the Pyrenees (2004)
08. Mozart’s European Roads (2004)
09. European Route of Jewish Heritage (2004)
10. Route of Saint Martin of Tours (2005)
11. Cluniac sites in Europe (2005)
12. Olive Tree Routes (2005)
13. VIA REGIA (2005)
14. TRANSROMANIC (2007)
15. Iter Vitis Route (2009)
16. European Route of Cistercian Churches (2010)
17. European Cemetery Route (2010)
18. Prehistoric Rock Art Route (2010)
19. European Route of Historic Thermal Towns (2010)
20. St Olav’s Road Trail (2010)
21. European Ceramics Route (2012)
22. European route of megalithic culture (2013)
23. The route of the Huguenots and Waldensians (2013)
24. ATRIUM (2014)
25. Art Nouveau Network Network (2014)
26. Via Habsburg (2014)
27. Roman Emperors and the Danube Wine Route (2015)
28. European itineraries of Emperor Charles V (2015)
29. Destination Napoleon (2015)

30. In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson (2015)
31. Fortified towns of the Grande Région (2016)
32. Trails of Impressionism (2018)
33. Via Charlemagne (2018)
34. European Route of Industrial Heritage (2019)
35. Iron Curtain Route – EuroVelo 13 (2019)
36. Le Corbusier Destinations: Architectural Promenade (2019)
37. Liberation Route in Europe (2019)
38. Routes of Reform (2019)
39. European Route of Historic Gardens
40. Via Romea Germanica
41. Aeneas’ Route
42. Alvar Aalto Route
43. Cyril and Methodius Route
44. The European Route of D’Artagnan
45. The Iron Age Danube Route
46. The route of historic cafés
47. The European Fairy Tales Route
48. The route of women writers

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