History

The Hotel Goldener Anker in Bayreuth is a house with a centuries-old family tradition. Since its beginnings in the 17th century, the family’s goal has been to provide guests with the highest level of hospitality and comfort.

Originally, the Köhler family of innkeepers and hoteliers, now the Graf family, was based in an estate at Mühltürlein in Bayreuth. Initially butchers, the Köhlers soon became successful hosts, welcoming guests with great dedication.

Butcher Albrecht Köhler was an enterprising businessman and acquired the property at Opernstraße 6, the hotel’s current location, as early as before 1676. Over the following decades and centuries, a hospitality and hotel business grew here, continuously remaining in the hands of the same family to this day.
 

The property acquired by Albrecht Köhler was renovated in 1753/54 as part of the redesign of Opernstraße, following the construction of the Margravial Opera House by Margravine Wilhelmine (inaugurated in 1748), and was seamlessly integrated into the ensemble.

These walls laid the foundation for the building that still houses the Goldener Anker today. Over time, the premises were carefully expanded and modernized—always with great care, yet keeping up with the times.

A century later, in 1839, Georg Wilhelm Köhler succeeded in obtaining a license to operate an inn with full hospitality and signage rights. This came with the ambition to cater to guests with refined tastes and to distinguish the establishment significantly from other taverns.

For many decades, Bayreuth had only four to six establishments officially designated as “hotels,” and the Goldener Anker was one of them—making it one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Bayreuth.

The Second World War did not pass unnoticed at the Goldener Anker, as was the case for many businesses. Among the few periods when the hotel could not operate continuously was the time of occupation from 1945 onward. In the following years, the hotel served as an office for the American Counter Intelligence Corps. However, on May 17, 1949, a newspaper announcement stated that, “after four years of occupation and confiscation,” both the restaurant and the “beloved coffee lounge” had reopened.

At the beginning of the 1960s, another generational change took place. In 1966, Karl Graf and his wife Madlon Graf, née Köhler, became the new owners of the hotel. However, Karl Graf’s tenure as hotel director was short-lived. By 1969, his son Karl Wilhelm Graf took over the business. Today, his daughter Eva Graf continues the traditions of the house in both the hotel and restaurant, maintaining them with her dedicated team while keeping them up to date.