Hotel Römischer Kaiser

The Palais Landauer stands in Ellingen, a small town in Mittelfranken, Bavaria. It began as a city palace in the 16th century and later became a Baroque residence. The building once belonged to the Teutonic Order, which maintained a commandery there. After damage in the Thirty Years’ War, the Jewish financier Samuel Landauer bought it in 1741 and remodelled it. The Landauer family added a Baroque hall on the first floor, used as a prayer room until a synagogue was built nearby in 1757.

The palace’s two-storey design features a mansard roof and decorative pilasters along the façade. The street-facing windows carry richly carved pediments. Inside, the restored Baroque hall holds ceiling frescoes depicting scenes from the Old Testament. The Dehio Handbook suggests the façade may have been designed by Matthias Binder. After falling into disrepair, the Kerssenbrock family purchased it in 2001 and carefully returned the building to its former glory.

Today the Palais Landauer operates as a hotel called Römischer Kaiser. The author Sophie Hoechstetter set one of her novellas in this house. The hotel preserves original architectural details and the historic prayer hall. Visitors can walk through rooms where members of the Landauer family once lived and worshipped. The building’s layered history is visible in every restored element.