On this day, the members of the oldest regulars’ table in Feldafing make an exception: Senior boss Erika Borchard is allowed to join the group in the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth, which has been exclusively male since 1995. Because it is the last weekly meeting of the regulars’ table brothers, because the hotel will be closed for at least four years on January 1st. There is little sign of the sentimentality of the members. As soon as the hotel reopens, they all want to come back – if necessary with a walker, as the group jokes, because they are over 80 years old. “I’m 86 then, I’ll never live there,” explains Heinz Ludwig, and doesn’t look a bit sad.
No more regulars’ table: The “Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth” closes its doors, owner Erika Borchard (left) and her friends have to look for a new place in Feldafing.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal/Starnberger SZ)
The families of the current eight members of the regulars’ table – there were already 15 – are all closely connected to the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth. The ancestors of Fischer Max Kugelmüller, for example, have always supplied the hotel, which was built in 1856 and has been owned by the Borchard family since 1905. Kugelmüller also takes his boat out onto Lake Starnberg every day. “The hotel has always had a good kitchen and there were no other suppliers,” he explains proudly. However, no successor to the fishing operation is in sight. “There’s no one left,” he admits. However, Kugelmüller does not give up hope that a granddaughter might one day take over the business.
“It’s just cheaper to get married than to hire a nurse,” jokes one of the regulars
Other members of the regulars’ table went to school with Erika Borchard, and the friendship has lasted to this day. Just like with Franz Schrödl: at the age of four he walked around the hotel naked, he says. Because his mother was an assistant nurse in the hotel that was used as a hospital during the war. Last year, the 82-year-old got married for the third time – of course at the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth. “It’s cheaper to get married than to hire a nurse,” teases his friend Heinz Ludwig, who is just as old. No one blames the other, the regulars know each other far too well. In general, there is a lot of laughter around. Ludwig tells that his parents worked in the hotel and learned to love each other there.
The guest book of the traditional hotel reads like a who’s who of the upper ten thousand
The admiration for Empress Elisabeth – or in short: Sisi – can still be felt today. Countless anecdotes and myths exist, and the Bavarian princess is also well represented in the world of film and literature.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal/Starnberger SZ)
Memories are already being exchanged about who was in a relationship with whom in the hotel and which celebrities have stayed at the Kaiserin Elisabeth. The guest book of the traditional hotel reads like a who’s who of the upper ten thousand. Well-known personalities, such as Erika Mann or a member of the Swedish royal family, have married or christened here. The conductor Herbert von Karajan was here several times, as was the Shah of Persia, Gerhard Hauptmann, Francoise Sagan, Klaus Kinski and Luchino Visconti when he directed the film “Ludwig II.” in 1972. turned. In his youth, Ludwig made the caddy for the industrial heir and photographer Gunter Sachs; the actresses Nina Hoss and Iris Berben last stayed here.
Spend the night like Empress Elisabeth: the Sisi suite is still an eye-catcher today. On the day of Ludwig II’s funeral, the Empress is said to have only eaten rice gruel, sardines in oil or chicken hash.
(Photo: Nila Thiel/Starnberger SZ)
The most famous regular guest was certainly the Austrian Empress Elisabeth. She came every year to visit her family at Possenhofen Castle. Since the passionate horsewoman always arrived with a train of staff and her own horses, the hotel was rebuilt in 1870 and the stables expanded. The Empress was also here on the anniversary of the death of the Bavarian King Ludwig II on June 13, 1886, explains the senior manager and produces a book as proof in which all the menus with a date are listed that the Empress has ever eaten in the hotel. On the anniversary of Ludwig’s death, the menu included brain consommé, Starnberger lake char and chocolate cake. After the memorial service for the Bavarian king on June 22, his cousin and soul mate Sisi apparently had little appetite, as the menu consisting of rice gruel, sardines in oil or chicken hash shows.
When Empress Sisi arrived, it was usually with a large entourage. The contemporary wood engraving by M. Wehli is taken from the book “Art and Pleasure of the Wittelsbacher”.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal/Starnberger SZ)
Borchard, who has managed the hotel for 65 years, can no longer remember all the personalities who have stayed here; she only knows one thing: they all wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet of this historic place, look out over Lake Starnberg and the Alps from the balcony and go for a lot of walks. Nowadays, however, guests have to be offered more, she is convinced. Therefore, the golf hotel will be renovated and modernized from the ground up. In addition, a new building of the same size with a large wellness area is to be built. The plans are lengthy. Until they can be implemented, Siemens will use the hotel as an alternative quarter. Because their training center in Feldafing is also to be replaced by a new building. In the meantime, “planning will continue,” promises the senior manager, who has already handed over the hotel to her great-niece Julia Haarmann, who is currently completing her business studies and will then gain practical experience abroad.
Furniture, pictures, bedclothes or crockery up to the wine – everything is stored
The regular carpenters, however, are sceptical. “I won’t know whether the hotel will continue until the new building is up,” says Kugelmüller. In his opinion, construction and refurbishment should take place immediately, while operations continue. Long-time employees had expressed this opinion, but only behind closed doors. According to Borchard, however, this is not possible because the work is far too extensive and the guests would only be disturbed. Now the big New Year’s Eve celebration is being prepared, almost as the crowning glory of a traditional era. The hotel will be cleared in January. Furniture, pictures, bedclothes or crockery up to the wine – everything is stored. The employees were laid off and the hotel was handed over to Siemens. It will reopen in four years and the regular guests will come back, Borchard is convinced of that. And maybe then the staffing situation in the catering trade will be better than it is today, she hopes.