Malerwinkel Hotel

The beginning

The history of the Malerwinkel Hotel in Bergisch Gladbach began in 1991, when the owner, Hans Krämer, was offered for purchase two small, half-timbered buildings in need of loving restoration. To the town of Bergisch Gladbach, this self-employed master stonemason, with his particular weakness for restoring buildings listed for historic preservation, seemed to be just the man to take on the two buildings, which are centrally situated in Bensberg, between the palace and the town hall. Without a definite idea of its future use, Hans Krämer simply followed his passion and created a gem out of the two historic buildings, thus laying the foundation for our history as hostellers.

His wife, Renate Krämer-Thurau, soon realised that these two buildings, painstakingly restored, could make a long-held dream come true: a romantic home away from home for business travellers and holidaymakers. She wanted a different sort of hotel, a place where guests would feel at home and warmly looked after from the minute they arrived – just as if they were guests at a friends’ home, without foregoing the comfort and professionalism expected of a classic hotel. The Malerwinkel Hotel – a distinctive mix of the traditional and the modern.

The opening

In 1992, the small guest house opened to coincide with the Cologne Furniture Fair. Eleven rooms were ready for the first guests, and were booked at once – a fantastic start for a newcomer to the hotel business. The idea for the hotel´s name came as the result of a neighbor’s idea to hold a contest. Several people submtted recommendations for the name “Malerwinkel”. Small wonder, because in earlier times, artists would gather around today´s hotel complex to find inspiration in the sunny corner between the castle moat and the Fischbachstrasse.

A short time later, another adjacent buildingbecame available for purchase. The Malerwinkel thus grew to 16 rooms, each individually designed. For the sake of preserving history, Renate Kramer-Thurau never undertook to standardize the rooms. On the contrary! Early on, she found a guiding philosophy for her hotel: that each guest should get the individual attention to make their stay both pleasant and successful. Though business, trade fair and conference guests may have different needs and expectations than leisure travellers, they all have one thing in common: the desire to be accepted and cared for!

Further development into a theme and designer hotel

The steadily increasing number of guests – including many returning visitors – led to a further enlargement of the business: When the former municipal music school – which was also located on the premises – came up for sale, the Krämer family integrated this historic building into their hotel as well. Today, the former Musikschule is devoted to all things musical, with each of the nine brightly-lit rooms is dedicated to a different famous musician or composer.

To complete our theme hotel, we acquired the Artist’s House, the Künstlerhaus, in 2005. This structure, made from quarry stone, has eight comfortable rooms. Each is a tribute to a different artist, from Albrecht Dürer to Henri Matisse. Today, the hotel comprises 34 rooms and suites, a conference room and a small sauna. The leafy and secluded courtyard is a tranquil oasis surrounded by the various hotel buildings – a lovely place to meet, talk and get to know new people. And in summer, it´s just the place for a complementary drink.

Growth of long-term guests

Over the years, we have of course listened to the suggestions and requests of our regular guests, and taken them into account in the evolution of our hotel. Some guests were looking for a place to stay over the longer-term; for them, we built the Galeriehaus Moitzfeld, our boarding house, which is situated in the Moitzfeld district about 1200 meters from the Malerwinkel.

Throughout its history, the Malerwinkel Hotel has grown steadily in size. The last expansion (to date) was the timbered addition to the main house, added in 2011, which serves as office space – or what we like to call our “think tank”. Another room was also created for our guests: just 1 of 35 that carry the “Fischbach” title, named for the Fischbachstraße, where everything began back in 1991.