Jacobi commercial building (1912/13 - 1934), today hotel "Orania.Berlin" (since 2017)

The history of the hotel "Oriana.Berlin" began more than 100 years ago, when the textile entrepreneur and city councillor Leopold Jacobi (1847-1917) planned the construction of a new, representative commercial building at Oranienplatz. Jacobi commissioned the well-known Berlin architectural firm of Wilhelm Cremer and Richard Wolffenstein, who had made a name for themselves in synagogue construction, among other things. The contract was awarded in 1912, and the new office building was ready for occupation in 1913. The first floor housed the "Oranienpalast" café, which also regularly attracted its guests with concerts and cabaret. The offices on the upper floors were used by AEG. Leopold Jacobi died in 1917. Due to the unrest of the First World War, there were frequent changes of tenants. In 1924, seven years after Jacobi's death, the commercial building was converted into the "C&A Brenninkmeyer" department store. The hotel "Ahlbecker Hof" now advertised for overnight guests on the upper floors. The owner was still the widow Cäcilia Jacobi, followed in 1933 by her three children Ernst, Frieda and Charlotte. But already in 1934 they had to sell the Jacobi business house - under pressure from the Nazi authorities - far below its value to "C&A". In 1938, the Jacobi children were able to escape, but their assets were confiscated. Only in 1951, after a long trial, were they awarded "compensation" of 5,000 DM per child. The "Cunda" clothing factory bought the commercial building, but no longer maintained sales premises. Subsequently, the changing owners and businesses had no real interest in redevelopment, so that after 1990 demolition was imminent. Because there was no money to do so, the building remained standing. In 1995, the building was finally added to Berlin's list of monuments. From 2008, the first measures to preserve the building for interim cultural use followed. In 2013, conversion to a hotel was permitted, and renovations began in 2014. In August 2017, the hotel "Orania.Berlin" opened its doors - until today (2021).