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This story begins in the summer of 1936, when Máximo Emilio German Bahlke – general manager of the German company Mannesmann, specialized in the manufacture of seamless pipes – arrived in Miramar, in Córdoba, with his family and one goal: Take advantage of the mud therapy offered by Lake Mar Chiquita. Apparently his wife (Melita Fleischberger, born in Vienna) suffered from asthma and his son (Maximo) from psoriasis. There, the Bahlkes investigated the lake’s healing virtues. Mr. Bahlke did not think twice: he decided to build a large hotel.
Work began in 1940 and was completed a few years later. The Grand Vienna Hotel opened with 84 luxury rooms; Thermal suite with doctor, nurse and masseuse services; Dining room seats 200, with English porcelain, crystal glasses and silver cutlery. Library, air conditioning and heating. Rooms with granite and marble floors and crystal chandeliers. Production took place behind the scenes: food was prepared in two huge rooms. The storeroom had enough canned goods to feed a hundred people for a month; A bakery, an ice factory, a pig farm and a poultry yard.
The cellar, another hidden space, houses about ten thousand bottles of wine. The Gran Hotel Vienna had its own electric light stationIn the garages there were fuel pumps for the exclusive use of guests. The large swimming pool, divided into fresh water and salt water, was displayed on the front of the building. To go to the lake, 80 meters away, a hat, customized shoes and a daily copy of La Nación were provided.
In mid-1946, the Bahlke family closed the hotel and left. The departure of this clan fueled thousands of assumptions about the validity of Nazism and Hitler. The end of World War II (September 1945) unleashed a flood of theories, It is as absurd as it is plausible based on an undeniable fact: Argentina had a dense community of Germans allied with National Socialism.
Until 1954, the GH Vienna was headed by the Chief of Security. In 1980, the Vienna subway was flooded and, after systematic looting, stopped working. In 1985, the major flood of Lake Encinosa (660,000 hectares) dealt the final blow. Currently, his grandson Max Bahlke is suing the municipality for usurpation of authority, and he opposes the visits and what the guides say who would add some colorful data – neither reliable nor verified – to the story to increase public interest. They swear there are spirits wandering the vicissitudes of Vienna. I hope this is true: only they can preserve what remains without harming even a fly. There is nothing more harmful than a ghost.
Grand Vienna Hotel. Check schedules for guided tours, morning and afternoon. Exceptionally at night. They start at the specified time and space is limited on a first-come, first-served basis. San Liniers 136, Miramar de Encinosa. Tel: (3563) 41-4731. AG: @hotelvienamuseo
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