‘No Jews allowed,’ German hotel tells Israeli guests

A family from Israel was told, “sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel” when attempting to book a room in a town in southern Germany. The incendiary rejection triggered uproar, with the hotel offering an apology and citing a wave of fake reservations.

The message sent by Hotel Zum Hirschen, Bavaria, was shared by Talya Lador, Israel’s Consul General in southern Germany, who wondered on X on Tuesday, “Are we back in the 1930s?” The diplomat was referring to the infamous Nazi party’s policies that had stripped Jews of civil rights and property before later resorting to genocide.

The family also filed a complaint with Booking.com, which removed the property from its platform, and lodged a formal petition with the Bavarian Justice Ministry’s commissioner for combating antisemitism, according to several media reports.

Hotel Zum Hirschen – an establishment with more than 100 years of history – issued an apology, writing on its front page that it “would like to make it unequivocally clear that we condemn all forms of discrimination,” stressing that “the claim that certain groups are not welcome here is incorrect and does not reflect the facts.”