Guesthouse Petersberg

Anyone stopping at the Restaurant on Petersberg, will breathe in truly historic air. It was here that history was made for over 100 years – a very special atmosphere.

Adenauer's step onto the red carpet

The 4711 perfume manufacturer Ferdinand Mülhens had this splendid building constructed at the end of the 19th century with a breath-taking view over the Siebengebirge and the Rhine valley. It was converted and extended several times, used as a military hospital in between and after the Second World War initially captured by US troops. However, it achieved its greatest historical significance in the autumn of 1949 when Chancellor Konrad Adenauer negotiated the Petersberg Agreement there with the Allied High Commission, which brought more sovereignty to the Federal Government and relaxed the Occupation Statute and which he promptly took advantage of by stepping on the red carpet.

Federal Guest House

The Allied High Commission withdrew from Petersberg with the so-called Germany Treaty, which replaced the Occupation Statute: In April 1954 the hotel opened its doors once again. The Federal Government hired it for state visits (until 1973), the first official guest was the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in November 1954. After the visit of Leonid Breschnew, the hotel closed in 1973 for a long period. Five years later the Federal Government purchased the five-star residence and as of 1985 it underwent Euro 70 million worth of modernisation work and was re-opened in 1990 by the Steigenberger hotel chain. Visitors since then have included US President Bill Clinton, Michael Schumacher married his wife Corinna there and Petersberg was also the focus of the world's attention during the Afghanistan conferences in 2001, 2002 and 2011.