HISTORICAL NOTES

The Kraft family started their business in hotel management in Bern, Switzerland, in 1854, where Jean Kraft built and inaugurated the BERNERHOF HOTEL. Before that, Jean Kraft had been the Manager of the famous GASTHOF KRONE, in Bern, since 1851. There he had the opportunity to build his experience as a hotel manager.

During the Krafts' management, the luxurious BERNERHOF Hotel, with its 123 rooms and 185 beds, hosted illustrious guests such as the Queen of Naples in 1862, King Leopold of Belgium in 1864, Marshal Juan Falcon, President of the Republic of Venezuela in 1869, Rockefeller in 1894, Gabriele d'Annunzio in 1905, Paderewski in 1906. In 1924 the Kraft family sold the BERNERHOF Hotel to the Swiss Federal Government which turned it into an office building.

In 1878, Jean Kraft's youngest son, Gerardo, emigrated to Turin to stay at his uncle Costantino Kraft's, who owned the "Grand Hotel di Torino", while the rest of the family remained in Bern. In 1880 he moved to Rome where he ran the Hotel Quirinale. In 1883 he married Emma Wegenstein, thus becoming kinsman to another well-known family of hotel managers: the owners of the Schweizerhof Hotel, located by the Rhine waterfalls in Neuhausen. In Florence he bought the Hotel Italia in 1883 and the Hotel Royal de la Paix in 1897. He then restyled it, added a fourth floor and renamed it Grand Hotel, with 120 rooms and 240 beds. After finishing their studies in Switzerland, his sons returned to Florence and went through an intensive training in hotel management in Germany, in France (Cannes), in London, in Interlaken, Naples and then returned to Florence. In 1928 Gerardo Kraft expanded the Hotel Italia in Piazza Ognissanti in Florence and established the Hotel Excelsior Italia with 170 rooms. The latter was inaugurated with a grand party on April 1st 1928.

Several celebrities stayed at the two luxurious hotels in Florence: the Romanov family, Emperor William II of Prussia, the Dukes of Windsor, the Shah of Persia with his wife Soraya, Princess Margaret of England, Elena of Romania, Queen Sofia of Greece, the King of Yugoslavia, the English Prime Minister W. Churchill and a number of world-wide famous artists such as Johann Strauss, Backhaus, Cortot, Rubinstein, Menuhin, Toscanini, Benedetti Michelangeli, Bruno Walter, Furtwangler, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Callas, Josephine Baker, Maurice Béjart, Carla Fracci, Marcello Mastroianni, Gina Lollobrigida.

Some historical photographs have been taken from the album of the Grand Hotel and of the Hotel Excelsior.

One of the most relevant events at the Hotel Excelsior was the wedding of the Duke of Spoleto with Princess Irene of Greece. Fifty-eight guests were invited, amongst them the Italian monarchs and the Princes of the most important European states.

In 1958 the Kraft family sold the two hotels to CIGA, but soon after Ermanno Kraft, Emilio Kraft's oldest son and grandson of Gerardo Kraft - who had moved to Florence - purchased the Hotel Byron in Via Solferino in Firenze and renamed it Hotel Kraft. The Hotel Kraft is still run by his daughter, Monique, who continues the family's tradition with an entrepreneurial approach combined with the respect of the rules of the best Swiss hospitality, well-known all over the world. Through the tireless effort of Mrs. Kraft, HOTEL KRAFT S.p.a. have added to their hotel business in the Italian tourism sector the following activities:

VILLA LE BARONE
Start-up and marketing of an ancient Villa owned by the Della Robbia family.

RESIDENCE SAN LUIGI
Plunged in nature and tranquillity, in the hills between Florence and Siena.

CASTEL VERDELLI
A highly valuable historical building. The project includes a renovation plan to add new facilities and structures to the resort.

RESIDENCE "IL POZZETO"
A wonderful Residence located in Preconne, a small village between Arezzo, Cortona and Sansepolcro. IL POZZETO is a XVII century building, which used to be a retreat of Franciscan Friars, fully renovated to offer comfort and relax.