Hotel “Deutsche Eiche”, a piece of Munich's culture

The Munich Film Museum will be offering a historic look back at the traditional hotel and restaurant “Deutsche Eiche” from November 22, 2022 to February 12, 2023

The “Deutsche Eiche” in Schwabing was once considered the “first house of the city”. The exhibition provides insights into a special place as well as its fate from the Wilhelminian era to the present day.

The Hotel “Deutsche Eiche” was not just a hotel, it was an institution. Starting in 1906, it was expanded into a grand hotel with 250 rooms. As such, it also became a popular meeting place for the Munich bourgeoisie. The hotel was owned by the Jewish family Kahn, who were forced to sell it in 1938 under the Nazi regime and were murdered in concentration camps.

The history of the hotel is also part of the exhibition. At the beginning of the 20th century, the “Deutsche Eiche” was a popular meeting place for artists. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, many of these artists were persecuted and forced to flee into exile. Their fates will also be documented in the exhibition.

Designers, photographers and filmmakers also frequented the hotel “Deutsche Eiche” after the Second World War. For example, Helmut Newton, Romy Schneider, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder were guests. This is how the “Deutsche Eiche” became a meeting place for the Munich cultural scene.

The hotel closed in 2019 and is to be demolished. Only its listed facade will remain. The exhibition tells the story of a special place that will soon be history.