The story

The history of the hotel dates back to 1894, when today's FachWERK complex was built by a Bremen shipping magnate as his summer residence. Around 1920, the main building was extended to include the characteristic "little tower".
After the turmoil of war, the building was used as a HandWERK recreation home and training centre in 1945, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was repeatedly given to various hotel and restaurant tenants.

The owner at the time and the individual tenants of the hotel carried out numerous and unconventional renovations and successively destroyed the character of the complex. The original charm of this wonderfully situated building was lost and the property seemed trapped and disfigured. The odyssey of this historic ensemble ended in September 2011 at an auction in Berlin.

After the spontaneous auction, the new owner, Dr Clemens Ritter von Kempski, initially only planned a selective refurbishment - the property was advertised as a fully furnished and functional hotel. However, it quickly became apparent that the building could offer much more than small, dark, but bright rooms or a less tasteful catering area. The history and the enchanted character of the building unleashed the investor and he decided to try and restore the original structure, beauty and pride of place.

In 2013, the core restoration and refurbishment of the premises was tackled. Together with a young architect and a skilled HandWERKer team, the original basic structures of the rooms on the ground floor were largely restored with a great deal of passion and dedication from everyone involved. The old wall panelling was restored, the natural light gallery in the corridor area was opened up and high-quality hotel rooms were sensitively introduced. The overall picture now harmonises once again - in keeping with the elevated position above the town of Stolberg. The maltreated soul of the building has been revitalised and the GeWERK is once again full of refreshing life - hence the name FreiWerk!