Development

In spite of financial hardship in the early years, the Jacob family built up their restaurant business with energy, devotion and passion, they handed over a sound and well established business to their heirs. In addition, the successors of the Jacob dynasty particularly benefited from the founder’s achievements with the Lime Tree Terrace, which already then was seen as a horticultural work of art and soon became the hallmark of the house. The business was finally turned into a hotel at the end of the 19th century.

Although it remained a family business, the death of Louis Heinrich Jacob in 1922 signified the end of the era where ‘a Jacob’ managed the company personally. In 1925 the new tenants dispelled rumours of the ‘Jacob’ being turned into a large tavern. Instead, they founded the company Louis Jacob GmbH in Nienstedten. The gastronomic legend on the banks of the river Elbe lived on, grew and prospered: in the 1950s, the guest book of this fine traditional establishment boasted the signatures of international stars such as Maria Callas, Zarah Leander and Hans Albers.

This golden age came to an end in the 1970’s, when several changes of ownership eventually took their toll: the ‘good old times’ came to a sad conclusion with a now notorious auctioning of the restaurant inventory – this ‘clearance sale’ ripped the heart out of the ‘Jacob’.