(Re)discover our city - Hôtel Staar

10 Hôtel Staar © Proess Office National du Tourimse

(RE)découvrons notre ville - Hôtel Staar

Think you know our capital well? Well, let's see about that! Some of the buildings that you walk past on a regular basis have a special story behind them. Dr Robert L. Philippart is a true expert on the subject and will guide you through the city to uncover these hidden stories, making you look at some of our symbolic buildings in a new way.

Gare 1906 – Hôtel Staar

The building that now houses the BCEE (Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l'État – Luxembourg's State Bank and Savings Fund) at the junction of Avenue de la Gare and Avenue de la Liberté was the home of the former Hôtel Staar for 60 years.

From 1886, Jean Staar operated the "Hôtel de la Gare", a hotel by the train station that was a popular spot for notaries to organise auctions, as well as being in demand with passing trade and other organisations. In 1895, he bought the "Hôtel des Voyageurs", which he renovated, fitting out 22 rooms. In 1896 his new "Hôtel de la Gare" opened. The property included 80 stables for livestock auctions. To take advantage of passing trade, Staar also offered "lunch at any time".

In 1899, Jean Staar's property was requisitioned and he received compensation from the State who were planning on developing the Avenue de la Liberté. On his remaining area of land, the State asked him to build an iconic establishment to mark the beginning of the two avenues.

The new establishment, which was designed by architect Léon Suttor, was opened in January 1906. The hotel had 54 rooms, increasing to 60 by 1938. Extending over 3 storeys, some even had a living room and a private bathroom. All of the rooms had hot and cold running water. The different floors were connected via a lift. The ground floor had a café, banquet rooms, reading and breakfast rooms, as well as a restaurant with a veranda that could accommodate almost 100 people. Offering central heating, the hotel had its own electricity generator. The hotel also contained a hairdressing salon with its own perfumery, as well as a book shop.

The building featured with angular domed rotundas and sat on a square with a lemonade kiosk. This square is now the home of François Gillen's monument commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome.

Hôtel Staar's head chef, the world-renowned Oskar Schieb, created Luxembourg radio's first culinary broadcasts. Some of the highlights in the hotel's history, which adopted the name "Grand Hôtel Staar" in 1932, included the general meetings of the Union Adolphe, the fencing circle and the hoteliers association, as well as banquets when Hollerich-Bonnevoie became a city in 1914 and when the communes of Hollerich and Luxembourg merged in 1920. In 1925 the Luxembourg motorists' union was founded there, as was the public education centre "Volksbildungsverein Luxemburg-Bahnhof" in 1935.

More challenging moments included the serious damage the building suffered in 1915 as a result of air raids. During the First World War, professional unions of horticulturists, grain producers and leather merchants were all founded at the Hôtel Staar.

The opening of luxury hotels Hôtel Alfa and Hôtel Kons prompted the company Staar Liebermann, Consœurs Scheer, Loewenstein et Reckinger to draw up modernisation plans. However, the State's plan to widen Avenue de la Gare resulted in the restaurant's veranda being removed. The hotel consequently stopped operating in 1938. During the German occupation in the Second World War, German Chief of Civil Administration established the city's police headquarters on the site. At the end of the war, the State used the building to house the Luxembourg Ministry of Reconstruction, the Statistical Division of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Luxembourg National Tourist Office. In 1968, the building was acquired by the Caisse d'Epargne bank, which replaced the former hotel with a building designed by architect Paul Retter.

Photo : Hôtel Staar © Proess Office National du Tourisme

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