"Just opened – already sold out" read the headlines in the Berlin newspapers when the Hotel Windsor opened in June 1957. In a record three months, what was formerly a stately residential and commercial building was transformed into an "international hotel for guests with sophisticated needs".
The founder and proprietor of the hotel was Werner G. Lang, honorary consul of Paraguay and honorary citizen of several US cities. His international standing and his marriage to the celebrated European prima ballerina of the Berlin Opera, Gisela Deege, attracted film stars, diplomats and politicians from all over the world to the first-class hotel in Knesebeckstraße. The consul would happily pose for photographs with the VIPs or drive up to the entrance in the latest racing cars. As well as German screen favourites like Heinz Rühmann and Charles Regnier, he welcomed international stars like Claudia Cardinale, Marlon Brando and Harry Belafonte to the Hotel Windsor. And when football team Hertha BSC had a home game, fans would wait next to the hotel’s red carpet to take photos and get autographs from their football idols like Uwe Seeler and Franz Beckenbauer. The meeting place for stars and hotel guests was the hotel bar, where Eddie Constantine, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff and many others would sip the "Hotel Windsor" cocktail created by bar manager Dieter Fuhrmann. Werner G. Lang retired in 1973 after 16 years of successful hotel management. He sold the hotel to Georg Sponholz, who had begun his career at the hotel as a valet. Lang had already entrusted him with managerial tasks. Due to a legal dispute, the new proprietor could not keep the old name "Windsor". In memory of the hotel’s history and in gratitude to Lang, he changed the name to "Hotel Consul".
After the reunification of Germany, property entrepreneur Abraham Rosenthal purchased the "Hotel Consul" in 1990. He converted the old hotel into a comfortable city hotel. The first step was the restoration of the lobby.
The Berlin architect Armand Grüntuch designed a futuristic canopy made of glass and steel that stands in deliberate contrast to the period façade which is under monument protection. Ever since then, the redesigned reception area has shone resplendent beneath this modern construction and provides a clear view of a part of the hotel’s history: the stairway, which is also under monument protection. Combining traditional with modern has been the theme underpinning all the extensive alterations to the hotel since it was established.
A complete renovation of the hotel began at the end of November 2000. The unique concept, geared to meet the requirements of a modern, information-oriented society - PC and free,
high-speed Internet access in every
room – is setting new standards. In May 2001 the recently restored, traditional hotel celebrated its re-opening with an innovative concept and a new name: Hotel Gates.
