Dished up at the Deutsches Haus in Arendsee

Hotelier Burghard Bannier believes that the Altmark is trendy as a holiday region. "Arendsee attracts people as it is not so crowded because it is quiet and small here." Before he settled here with his family in the 1990s, the Salzwedel native had travelled quite a bit: training in the Harz and Leipzig, work in Prague and Berlin. His time in Prague especially, where he lived with his wife for three years and where they worked together in a hotel, had a great influence on him. "Everything was so dogmatic in the GDR. The Czechs are different, they all have a bit of the soldier Svejk in them, if you remember him." This inspired him to build something for himself. His family is deeply rooted in the Altmark region and everyone who moved away felt the urge to come back at some point: "We've all grown up here." So Burghard Bannier and his family returned to Arendsee in the Altmark region during reunification and made his dream come true. Together they bought an old hotel in a half-timbered house and converted it into the "Deutsches Haus Arendsee". At that time they started with 5 hotel rooms and a restaurant with 40 seats, today there are 26 rooms and 170 restaurant seats. Bannier’s hotel is a family business, many relatives are employed by him. "We are doing this because we like doing this. We live and breathe it and that's part of our success." The hotelier considers it a privilege to be able to help shape the region as an entrepreneur. This is especially true as there is still untapped potential for companies. He has started his own projects and enables young people from Vietnam to be trained at his business. The hotel is well frequented, many regular guests come back every year. This is also because Bannier effectively adapts his offer to the season. Arendsee is a classic holiday destination for the summer months, but with restaurant offers such as brunch or goose dinner at Christmas time, the family attracts guests to the climatic health resort all year round.