A brief history of the Hotel Victoria

Originating from a former officers’ villa, it had around 25 beds around 1860.

In 1886, it was acquired by the Vieth brothers and constantly extended, with the first tower added in 1898. The current “Ambrosia” restaurant was partly an open terrace with ornate wood carvings. The confectionery was in place of the shoe store. There were the first rooms with cold running water and electric light.

In 1908, the hotel was ravaged by flames and burned for 3 days. It was then rebuilt to its present size and had the first elevator in Bad Harzburg. In the 1930s, the terraces were closed and the bed capacity was 110.

Although the Hotel Victoria was spared during the Second World War, it became a hospital town. All hotels were confiscated by the Wehrmacht and the Hotel Victoria housed operating theaters and up to 200 wounded. When all this was over, the British realized how beautiful Bad Harzburg was (and still is) and confiscated all the hotels again and turned them into recruit recreation centers. When our island friends left Bad Harzburg at the beginning of the 1950s, there were still consequences of the war, namely almost ten years of plundering by the Wehrmacht and soldiers of the victorious powers, which could only be compensated for over time.

At that time, there were still around 15 larger hotels from the Wilhelminian era. Many hotels were demolished and some “burned down according to old Harz custom”. So there are only a handful of the beautiful old houses from the turn of the century left and one of them can become your vacation home.

Since the 1950s, we have constantly expanded the Hotel Victoria to meet the requirements of today’s gastronomy and the wishes of our guests. At that time there was a bathroom and two toilets on each floor. Today, all rooms have a bath or shower, WC, telephone and cable color TV. After the reopening in 1999, we have been happy to welcome many satisfied guests for more than 123 years, who love and appreciate the tradition of the time-honored house and the cheerful family atmosphere.

Come and visit us and get to know a piece of Bad Harzburg’s history from its most beautiful side.

Sincerely

Your family Reul-Vieth