On 24 February 1897, the South German gastronomist Friedrich Haerlin purchased the "Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten" for the tidy sum of 420 100 Marks. He had long dreamt of owning his very own hotel, and after celebrating his fortieth birthday on 24 February 1897 he took inspiration from an old German proverb "wisdom comes with 40" and resolved on the purchase. He had originally wanted to spend no more than a further 30 000 Marks for new furniture and curtains, but his plans were foiled by the Hamburg authorities, who insisted on an entire refurbishment of the premises. In the end he had to invest a further 100 000 Marks in his new hotel.

At that time, he could not have had even the faintest idea that his hotel would become internationally famous. Yet he was quite clear what he wanted to do with the narrow house on the inner Alster. With his typical "all Swabian" attitude, he managed to endear Hamburg's authorities as well as the Hanseatics as regular guests.

The narrow house was transformed into one of Hamburg's finest buildings, creating the impression of being constructed as a harmonic unity. In actual fact, both Haerlin senior as well as his son Fritz (who took over the hotel in 1936) built a number of extensions over the years, purchasing the adjacent houses, breaking down walls and integrating more rooms and restaurants.

In 1912 the former reception was opened as the "society hall with Alster view", today's Wohnhalle. The Haerlin Restaurant was opened in 1914, followed by the Jahreszeiten Grill decorated in Art Déco style in 1925. At the beginning of the 1930s, the entire building was crowned with a saddleback roof. This was also the period of where the Café Condi and the Jahreszeiten Cellar - today's Doc Cheng's® - as well as the Garage were being constructed.

The hotel Vier Jahreszeiten soon became internationally famous. VIPS from film, politics, high society and even European royals became regular guests of the hotel.

The hotel philosophy is simple: "service, service, service." Friedrich Haerlin, who founded the hotel in 1897 once said to his wife, "it is the same as inviting guests to our home: everything is nice and clean, the table is laid and the dinner is prepared well and in sufficient quantity. We have spruced ourselves up nicely and are looking forward to our guests. It is no different in the hotel - just on a larger scale."

In 1997 the current managing director took his position at the Vier Jahreszeiten and continued to live this philosophy. He and his team know that together they have an obligation to a special tradition and are proud not only of having made a contribution to shaping the face of Hamburg over the years, but also of having set standards in international hotel business.

The Haerlin family sold the hotel to the Japanese Aoki Corporation in 1989 and in the summer of 1997, it was again sold to the Singapore-based hotel chain Raffles International Hotels & Resorts. Nine years later, the owner of Raffles International Hotels & Resorts, Colony Capital, announced a joint takeover of the hotel chain Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Inc. together with Kingdom Hotels International. On 30. April 2007, the famous Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was renamed as the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.

As a leading player in the international hotel scene, Fairmont is synonym for an exceptional collection of luxury hotels, including such icons as the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec-City, the Fairmont The Norfolk in Nairobi or the London hotel The Savoy, set to reopen in 2009. Fairmont Hotels are unique residences, providing demanding travellers with experiences of cultural richness and local authenticity. In the many exclusive or unspoilt locations around the world, the name Fairmont stands for responsible tourism: with their multiple prize-winning Green Partnership Program, the company has become a recognized pioneer in sustainable hotel management. The Fairmont portfolio currently comprises 56 unmistakable hotels. 25 further establishments - in such diverse destinations as Shanghai, Morocco or Anguilla - are currently being planned.

Fairmont is a part of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, a leading hotel company operates more than 90 hotels world-wide under the brand names Raffles, Fairmont und Swissôtel. Operating under the brands Fairmont and Raffles, the company also manages residences, estates and private residence clubs of the luxury class. Further information and reservation is available under the free dial number 0-800-181 14 62 or in the internet under www.fairmont.com.

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