Our History

The Lindenhof through the years

The oldest Ilmenauer Konditorei (café/ cakeshop) was founded, on that spot at the upper end of the Lindenstrasse, back in 1829, by a man named Friedrich Dittmar. It became the evening meeting place for visitors taking the Kur, or as we might say, visiting the spa. In 1845, on July 8th, the first musical evening took place, to great acclaim.The café was run by Friedrich Dittmar’s son August, from 1885 to 1901. During his time, the building next to the Ilmenauer Konditorei was taken down and a new café built. This café was built in the Neo-Rococo style, even the interior. It became one of the must-sees of it’s day and had it’s own steam heating and electric light, which came from their own generator. The café was named the ‘Wiener Café’ shortly after the turn of the century, the very early 1900′s. From then on, it started to change hands fairly regularly. Reconstructions followed which changed the face and even the name of the building. As the ‘Konsum-Café’ after WW2, in the middle of the 50′s it became the ‘HO-Restaurant Lindenhof’, with the legendary chef Hans Held, who will always remembered as the original Lindenhofer. In 1991, shortly after the change in the political situation of the DDR, the Lindenhof was closed. This in spite of reconstruction work in 1984/ 1985. But thanks to what is known as the Trust Agency, the building became available for purchase in 1993.