Theresienstein – the restaurant
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By 1870 the original classicistic restaurant had become much too small and was in a desolate condition. When financial resources to pay for a new building became available, town planner Albert Mollweide, the successor of Gottlob Thomas, drew up plans for a new building, which was completed in 1903.
This Art Nouveau villa is the pride of the citizens of Hof. The building is called “Theresien-stein”, or locally just “Stein”. Actually Theresienstein is the name of the park in which this restaurant stands, but as the building never got a name of its own, it is simply called the same as the park.
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This building was not erected by a secular or ecclesiastical prince. The aristocracy never lived in Hof, which is why the people of Hof decided to present themselves with a magnificent, representative building at the turn of the century.
No noble or captain of industry or other celebrity ever lived here. It was designed as a place dedicated to the community and has served its social functions from its opening to the present-day as a venue for social gatherings, dances and other entertainment.
The heyday of the Theresienstein restaurant building came in the years following the Second World War when well-known names like Horst Brandenburg and the Rias Dance Orchestra, the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra, the Jochen Brauer Sextet, the Hazy Osterwald Sextet and many other famous show bands played here. The singer Catarina Valente had a guest appearance, and for weeks Peter Hinnen and also another great pop singer of the times Ivo Robic appeared every evening on the stage in the Theresienstein.
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Then came the time of the juke-box and playing records, which took the place of live music. The latter became too expensive to pay for, and so the Theresienstein turned into a discotheque. But this era also came to an end, and from then on the building was only used as a restaurant.
In the meantime the Theresienstein can be hired for functions from family celebrations to conferences, from concerts and cabaret evenings to lectures and the like. Besides the bottom part contains a café which is open in summer.
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In front of the building there is a large open space extending to the south-west with a music pavilion, floral beds and ornamental railings. Here open-air concerts used to be held regularly and were a popular attraction. In the 1980’s the building was renovated and since then these promenade concerts have been resumed.
