Since 5 Generations

Exciting family history

The Hotel Barbarossa has been owned by the Miehle family since 1874 and is now managed by Florian Miehle and his wife Christiane Miehle in the 5th generation. Maybe one day, one of their three daughters will follow in the footprints of their parents and manage the beautiful, historic building in the 6th generation. 


Martin Miehle operated the house as a restaurant with bourgeois cuisine after he bought it in 1874. His parents were running the restaurant and guesthouse "Kreuz" in Blumenfeld. We do not know why he came to Constance and why he bought the Barbarossa. But today we can say, luckily he came to Constance and bought the house. 

His son Karl Miehle took over the management of the building from his father and accomplished many construction measures around the turn of the century. The most important thing was the purchase of the third building "Zum grünen Gatter" which is attached to the other both houses on the western side entering the Obermarkt Alley. Furthermore he converted the 4th floor into guest rooms and instructed the construction of the clock tower up top the main building. 


Guesthouse "Kreuz" Blumenfeld





Florian und Christiane Miehle mit Karlotta, Katharina, Klara und Schnauzer Otto
Florian und Christiane Miehle mit Karlotta, Katharina, Klara und Schnauzer Otto
Martin, Fritz (als Kind) und Karl Miehle
Martin, Fritz (als Kind) und Karl Miehle


 

Afterwards his son Fritz Miehle managed the Barbarossa with his wife Lore. Unfortunately Fritz, the grandfather of the recent owner Florian Miehle, died in the military hospital in Sigmaringen because of a furuncle during war time. The smuggled Penicillin from Switzerland unfortunately brought no relief.  Thus, Lore Miehle and her tow kids Wolfgang and Renate were on their own. After World War II the house was occupied by the french army. The good wine, which was previously immured in the cellar, was found after a betrayal. After the end of the occupation in 1949 Lore went on leading the hotel. 

Her son Wolfgang should manage the hotel after her and was sent to Munich to study business management. After studying Wolfgang got to know his grand love during a boat trip on Lake Constance. She came from Lünen, near Dortmund and was daughter of a baker family. The bakery, family owned since 1899, has been looking for a man who wants to take over the management. So Wolfgang declared to his mother that he will leave Constance because of his love and could not manage the hotel anymore. His mother Lore was so disappointed about his dicision that she did not appear to the wedding of her son, although he negotiated a lease contract with the long-established family Wiedemann from Constance. 

 


 

After three long years, within Lore went on leading the hotel, she finally signed the contract in 1967. The hotel was leased to Jürgen Wiedemann, the son of Alfred Wiedemann, after he passed away because still nobody of the Miehle family wanted to take over the leadership. 

After Florian Miehle, son of Wolfgang, finished his apprenticeship in the hotel business in the Parkhotel in Düsseldorf, where he got to know his now wife Christane, they dicided to take over the management of the Barbarossa one day. They both studied hotel management in Heidelberg after the spent some years working abroad in New York, Cologne, Munich and England, until they moved to Constance in 2007. 

Finally in October 2010 it was time to follow up the families tradition in leading the Hotel Barbarossa into its future.