Hotel Deutscher Hof in Nürnberg For Sale

[Geoff Walden]

The Nürnberg newspaper today has an article noting that the famous Hotel Deutscher Hof in Nürnberg will shortly go on sale, via the internet. The historic hotel (opened in 1913) has been empty since 2004, and is consequently in bad shape on the inside, so added to the cost of the property must be the cost to renovate it. There has been some talk about the German Railroad using it as a railroad museum (it's very near the main train station).
http://www.nordbayern.de/nuernberger-na ... O8cm5iZXJn

Funny thing is, this article did not say a single word about the Deutscher Hof being Hitler's favorite hotel in Nürnberg, and one wing was even rebuilt in 1936, to give Hitler a room with a balcony, for march-pasts.
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/nuernberg.htm

In the same paper, there was a notice that one of the train stations that was built to take people to the Reichsparteitag, and an associated bridge, have been placed under monument protection. The train station (Bahnhof Zollhaus) is in bad shape, and there is no money to restore it, but it is now protected from being torn down.

[Mannheim]

I had the most bizarre experience of my NS researching career - such as it is - outside this hotel last year. If you have recently seen - or can remember - the opening scenes to "Triumph of the Will", you will appreciate how bizarre this experience was. I had used Geoff's (excellent) site to find the hotel and had braved the traffic and hostile stares of the locals to get my own photos of the balcony from which Hitler had reviewed the Hitler Youth and others. I suddenly heard quite a loud noise and looking up saw a Junkers 52 appear out of the clouds directly above the hotel. I am not making this up. I swear. I stood dumbfounded for far too many minutes before grabbing my camera and photographing this aircraft as quickly as I could before it disappeared as I knew no-one would believe me. I wasn't completely certain that I hadn't somehow been vortexed into an episode of "The Twilight Zone". Anyway, I got a few shots and went back to my hotel and shortly afterwards the aircraft, or its sister, reappeared as I was sitting outside a cafe. I am still not certain whether I saw two aircraft or saw the same one twice but I eventually concluded that they must have been the two Junkers from Tom Cruise's movie "Valkyrie". They of course were minus the period swastika and other Luftwaffe markings but to see a Junkers 52 flying over Nuremberg in the flesh, so to speak, believe me, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

[Ecam]

I'm not sure where the JU-52's for "Valkyrie" were sourced, but Lufthansa operates a "Tante Ju" that is maintained and flown by Lufthansa staff. I've seen it several times departing the Frankfurt airport for publicity flights. Perhaps the same airplane.

Nonetheless, a very ironic experience for you!

Cheers,

Ecam

Mannheim, I should have checked before I posted, I checked the registration and the airplane in your photo is the Lufthansa Ju-52. I've got a little history with that airplane, but maybe another thread.

[Mannheim]

I'd love to hear the "little history" as I am very interested in WW2 aircraft. Anything that old must have a story to tell.

[Geoff Walden]

You're so right - quite a sight (and sound)! When I was in Munich a few years ago, walking in front of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, I heard a distinctive prop sound and looked up, and saw this same plane (or another Ju 52). It was just as you described ... one of those experiences where time vanishes just for a moment, and it could have been the 1930s again. But I didn't get any pics (maybe I was too mesmerized?). How cool that you saw it in Nürnberg!

I will be at an air show in a couple of weeks, where that plane will be there available for rides. I doubt if I will take a ride - kinda expensive - but I'll take photos, for sure. And the Me 262 as well. (I think this must be one of those "repro" Me 262s ... I don't think there is an actual surviving Me 262 that is flying, is there?)

Geoff

[Ecam]

Here’s a little history on the Lufthansa Tante Ju.

“The Ju-52 D-AQUI has been fully restored with many parts manufactured from scratch.
Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung
Before and after World War II, the Junkers Ju-52 (also known as "Tante Ju" or "Auntie Ju") was the workhorse of many airlines and air forces around the world.
While thousands were built, only a handful are still operational and in flying condition. One of them is D-AQUI, which has been in Lufthansa's fleet since 1984.
This particular aircraft has come full circle. It started its operational life in 1936 with Luft Hansa, the pre-war German airline that preceded the modern Lufthansa (although there is no legal continuity between the two entities).
It was then transferred to a Norwegian airline and, after the German invasion of Norway, spent the war in Scandinavia fulfilling transport duties. In 1955 it was retired from commercial service in Norway, disassembled and transported by sea to Ecuador.
After several years of service in the Amazon basin, it was discovered and purchased by an American citizen, who took it to the United States and subsequently sold it to "The Six Million Dollar Man" writer Martin Caidin.
In 1984 it was bought by Lufthansa to mark its 60th anniversary. The Ju-52 was flown back to Europe, making 16 stops along the way.
Once in Germany it was thoroughly restored and put back into service on panoramic flights.
The aircraft, which sports the Luft Hansa 1936 historical livery, has a packed schedule during summer months. Between May and October it's usually booked up, attending air shows and carrying passengers on a unique flying experience around Germany and Austria.
"It is not unusual to have elderly people, who flew on Ju-52 when they were very young, take their grandchildren on board," explains Wolfgang Weber, a Lufthansa spokesperson.
The Ju-52 spends winters at Lufthansa Technik facilities in Hamburg, where it's subject to intense maintenance work. Taking care of such an old aircraft represents a challenge for the maintenance crews. Parts and spares are hard to come by and very often have to be manufactured from scratch.
For flight information, visit the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin-Stiftung website.”

My connection to this aircraft? In November 1984 I was a young Douglas DC9 copilot. One horrible foggy and cold night we arrived in Moncton, New Brunswick. Out of the mist this same aircraft taxied past us preparing for takeoff. We asked them what they were up to and they replied that Lufthansa had bought the old girl and they were ferrying it back to Germany for restoration. It truly was an awful night with airframe icing in cloud which a modern jet can easily handle, but not a 1930’s vintage Junkers. And all the way to Europe in it in November? Challenging enough during the long and fairly benign days of summer but not a trip I would have contemplated doing then (as a relatively inexperienced young co-pilot) or even many decades later (as an experienced wide-body captain).

Many decades later as a Boeing 777 captain it was not an uncommon sight to see this aircraft in the summertime doing publicity flights out of Frankfurt. In contrast to the very large and very noisy jet airliners, it was both incongruous and at the same time a treat to see this stately old girl from the past rise off the runway and turn to clear the way for the large jets waiting to depart.

I also saw something at an air show in Hamilton, Ontario several years ago that I never imagined I’d see - US collector Jerry Yagens brought three of his warbirds to the air show and it was an amazing sight to watch an ME 262 and Focke-Wulf 190 taxi out and fly in formation together. Chasing them around the sky - his DeHavilland Mosquito.

[Geoff Walden]

Photos of the Deutscher Hof hotel, after all renovation complete, including interior photos, 2018.

http://www.nordbayern.de/region/nuernbe ... Range=drei Monate&selectedDate=drei Monate

[Mannheim]

Great link, Geoff. Has anyone in this forum ever stayed in the Deutscher Hof?