The hotel was constructed in 1852 in the classic style. It was designed by the architect Ludwig Lange and got its name from a woman named Müller who had the idea to build it. The hotel had great success and a very good reputation throughout Thuringia. In 1867 the youngest son of the Müller family Gotthard took over the building. He was a violin player and had a passion for music overall. During his time the hotel became a center of music events and a lot of famous musicians like Hans von Bülow stayed in the hotel. In 1880 the hotel was leased by Gotthard to the hotelier Franz Schmidt who later acquired the property in 1888. During this time the name was changed to ‘Hotel Charlotte’ and it now had 70 hotel rooms.
In the year 1913 it was bought by Maximilian Graf von Wiser who turned it into a hospital and treatment center for eye diseases. The name was changed to ‘Augenheilanstalt Charlotte’. After the first world war it was turned into a hotel again by Hermann Gruber which now had the name ‘Hotel Herzogin Charlotte’. In 1939 to 1945 it was used as a hospital and got turned into a recreational home after the war. In 1976 the Gruber family was expropriated and the building now was in the hands of the GDR. After renovation in 1978 the recreational home was named ‘Albert Schweitzer’ and remained in operation till the end of the GDR.
After 1990 it changed its owner a couple of times and ended up as property of an Irish company which let it decay further and further. In 2015 it was bought by the city Bad Liebenstein and in 2020 the whole upper floors were demolished. The healthcare association ‘AWO’ wants to rebuild it in the future, but as of 2022 nothing has happened. We visited this place shortly before most of it was demolished.
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