SATT UND SELIG (which means “enough to eat and overjoyed”) is located in the former “Hotel zum Stern” at Carl-Schurz-Straße 47. Originally the street was called “Klosterstraße”. From1754 it was called “Potsdamer Straße”. In 1939 it got its current name “Carl-Schurz-Straße”, in memory of the revolutionary Carl Schurz, who rescued the poet Gottfried Kinkel from the prison in Spandau in 1850. Under US President Abraham Lincoln (term of office 1861-1865) Carl Schurz was appointed ambassador of the USA in Spain. By the US President Rutherford B. Hayes (term of office 1877-1881), he was appointed Minister of the Interior of the United States.
This part of Spandau is the oldest heart of the town that was built on in the 12th century, when the Askanians came in the area. The building is one of the oldest in Spandau. It is a baroque building from the 18th century. Underneath this historic building is a vault that was built in the 14th century. On the property next door used to be the palace of Prince Heinrich. It used to be the residence of the city’s commandant in office.
In December of 1726 the building became a guesthouse for the first time. It offered the opportunity to unharness the horses. The owner was the master baker Joachim Lange. In the night from the 24th to the 25th of June in 1740 there raged a blaze in the neighbourhood that destroyed ten buildings. It can be assumed that the timber-framed house we see today was erected after that fire.
From 1868 until 1874 again a master baker, a certain Mr. A. Lange, owned the building. In 1880 it was converted into a hotel. The remise was built at the same time. At the turn of the century a restaurant opened on the ground floor. The owner of the hotel was Mr. Felix Tietz. Mr. Wilhelm Tepper, later the owner of the Victoria-Säle, was the master of the dances. Additionally there was the private dancing-instructor-institute Richard Schulz and the hairdresser Richard Taniewski. Gas lamps provided the lighting. In the hall you could find a portrait of the emperor, on a ledge was a bust of emperor William II.
Dancing was considered immoral. That’s why children were not allowed during the dances. But often the musicians brought their children along and had to hide them underneath the immense skirts of their mothers when the police checked.
The “Stern” used to the favourite haunt of many soldiers. At the beginning of the century there were many brawl among them.
In 1914 the drive to the backyard was removed. In 1922 the ground floor got renovated. New windows were put in. In 1923 a star was attached to the fade. In 1933 the clairvoyant Frau da Gama practiced in the house. Her special fields were palmistry and handwriting specimen. She promoted her services with the statement “Turns of fate cannot do any harm, if you know more about your path through life”. She also referred to her “official certification” and that she was “acknowledged in the best circles”.
In 1944 fire bombs caused a vast destruction. After the war the reconstruction began. Three big fires, in 1954, 1969 and 1978, shook the “Hotel zum Stern”. A burning cigarette in a wastepaper basket in the restaurant caused the last fire. Back then there was still the Hotel, but the restaurant was already a pizza house. Afterwards, a fish restaurant opened in the premises. In the 80s the hotel went out of office. Now a store opened that sold jewellery and furs.
In April of 1986 the renovation of the building began. The roof got the roofing tiles that are typical for Spandau. The former hotel floors were altered into apartments. The half-timbering was relieved from the plaster. In 1987 the renovation was completed. The costs were more than 4,5 million DM. The state of Berlin covered half of it. In the former remise the goldsmiths Anne and Gerd Korn made their jewellery. An advice centre of the and the bed store Rutz opened. The counseling center of the local gas provider Gasag with attached teaching kitchen and Betten-Rutz, a traditional company of Berlin since 1931, opened their shops. The bed business, which was forced to close as a result of the collapse of the real estate swindler Jürgen Schneider its principal place of business at Tauentzien (in 1999 Niketown was built there and from 2014 the flagship store of the fashion chain Uniqlo from Japan), the negative business balance had the result that up to one store in Berlin-Schmargendorf (closed 2015) all stores, including those in Spandau, closed. In the former remise the goldsmiths Anne and Gerd Korn made their jewellery, and later a midwife was doing its activities, 2012-2015 Brunhilde Mainz spent here her last years of life. Granny Bruni's cheesecake was legendary.
In 1988 the building received an architectural award in the category “successful refurbishment”. Ever since it is a landmark building. A snip shop moved in the premises. And then the “SATT UND SELIG” opened its gates in this historic house on 09.06.2006, the date of the start of the FIFA World Cup in Germany. 2009 and 2013, two 80 m² apartments were completed directly above the SATT AND SELIG. In the tradition of the “Hotel zum Stern” now there are overnight stays for foreign guests.