and pasted from a source possibly in violation of wikipedia s copyright policy . please remedy this by editing this article to remove any non free copyrighted content and attributing free content correctly or flagging the content for deletion . please be sure that the supposed source of the copyright violation is not itself a wikipedia mirror . may 2016 this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message kempinski hotels s.a. type private industry hospitality tourism founded 1897 in berlin germany headquarters geneva switzerland key people markus semer chairman of management board & ceo marcus van der wal coo colin lubbe cfo products hotels restaurants residences number of employees 24 000 website www.kempinski.com kempinski hotels s.a. is europe s oldest luxury hotel group . the group now has its head office in geneva but was founded in berlin in 1897 as the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft . at present the thailand crown property bureau cpb equity co. ltd has the majority holding in the group . 1 kempinski hotels currently operates 75 five star hotels and residences in 30 countries . starting in germany over the years kempinski has extended its hotel portfolio to other parts of europe and to the middle east africa and asia . the distinctive hotels are located in places such as abu dhabi berlin istanbul the dead sea beijing moscow st moritz and bangkok . contents 1 history 2 kempinski hotels worldwide 2.1 western europe 16 hotels & residences 2.2 eastern europe 15 hotels & residences 2.3 africa 9 hotels & residences 2.4 middle east 12 hotels & residences 2.5 asia 3 hotels & residences 2.6 china and mongolia 20 hotels & residences 3 global hotel alliance 4 social responsibility 4.1 be 5 references 5.1 further reading 6 external links history edit kempinski hotels is europe s oldest luxury hotel group with a history of more than 110 years . the history of this traditional company began in 1897 with the foundation of the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft in berlin . a parallel development was that of m. kempinski & co founded by berthold kempinski which was acquired by the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft in 1953 . berthold kempinski was born on 10 october 1843 in posen then a german province and now poland . the kempinski family was already successfully active in the wine trade from 1862 . in 1872 it extended its company to berlin where berthold kempinski opened a wine merchant s business under his name in the friedrichstrasse . in 1889 he opened a restaurant in the leipziger strasse which was the biggest in the whole of berlin . since berthold kempinski and his wife helena had no male children they invited their son in law richard unger to join the business . berthold kempinski finally transferred the firm to his son in law on condition that he kept the name kempinski . berthold kempinski died on march 14 1910 . alongside his wine and restaurant activities richard unger constructed an immense property business up to the start of world war i. after a short period of stagnation during the war he sold products of his own manufacture under the brand name kempinski . the business in berlin flourished so that in 1918 an impressive kempinski hotel dependency was established at 27 kurf rstendamm where the kempinski hotel bristol now stands . ten years later m. kempinski & co. took over the legendary haus vaterland on the potsdamer platz where the firm exploited a concept that was unique in berlin for a long time and is still known as event gastronomy erlebnisgastronomie . to escape the events of world war ii richard unger and his family emigrated to the usa and the firm m. kempinski & co became part of aschinger ag . the restaurant at 27 kurf rstendamm was destroyed by fire shortly before the end of the war and the other properties fell victim to bombing raids . after the end of the conflict richard unger s son and berthold kempinski s grandson dr friedrich unger returned to germany . in 1951 building started on a hotel on the site of the ruined restaurant at 27 kurf rstendamm and it opened a year later under the name hotel kempinski . for 20 years the modern progressive five star hotel enjoyed the undisputed status of the sole luxury hotel in berlin . in 1953 dr friedrich unger sold his shares and the name kempinski to the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft which already ran hotels such as the baltic the bristol and the kaiserhof . the name bristol was adopted and still graces the kempinski hotel at 27 kurf rstendamm . in subsequent years the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft took over the management of several famous hotels . in 1957 it acquired the luxurious hotel atlantic in hamburg . in 1970 the general assembly of the hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft voted to change its name to kempinski hotelbetriebs aktiengesellschaft . in the same year a long lasting partnership was established with lufthansa in the form of a 50 percent participation in the hotel vier jahreszeiten in munich in which lufthansa already had a holding . in 1977 the hotel company received its present name as kempinski aktiengesellschaft ag . at the same time the kempinski hotel frankfurt gravenbruch was added to the group s portfolio as its fourth german hotel . in 1985 lufthansa acquired shares in kempinski ag and thereby enabled the hotel company to operate kempinski hotels abroad too . a year later kempinski ag lufthansa and the finance company rolaco s.a. founded kempinski hotels s.a. with its head office in geneva . in 1993 kempinski ag acquired all the shares in kempinski s.a. the dusit sindhorn company ltd. took over kempinski in november 1994 when it acquired a 52 % stake . 2 3 the 50 50 joint venture between dusit thani group and the siam commercial bank eventually accumulated a 83 % stake in the group and dusit thani exited from the joint venture in 1998 when it sold out to its partner . 4 since 2004 the thailand crown property bureau has had a majority holding in kempinski ag . the crown property bureau is a royal thailand authority responsible for administering the property of the royal house of thailand and at the same time possesses holdings in numerous companies in thailand and abroad . kempinski hotels worldwide edit kempinski hotels portfolio currently comprises 75 hotels and residences worldwide . the portfolio includes historic grand hotels superb city hotels outstanding resorts and superior residences as well as famous names such as the hotel adlon kempinski in berlin the emirates palace 5 in abu dhabi the hotel taschenbergpalais kempinski in dresden the siam kempinski hotel in bangkok or the iragan palace kempinski in istanbul . with the exception of the hotel vier jahreszeiten kempinski in munich which belongs to the group and three hotels with leasing contracts the hotel adlon kempinski in berlin the kempinski grand hotel des bains in st moritz and the palais hansen kempinsk i in vienna kempinski hotels is currently targeted mainly at the management of luxury hotels and residences . western europe 16 hotels & residences edit kempinski hotel das tirol & kempinski residences das tirol palais hansen kempinski & palais hansen grand residences jochberg kitzbuehel austria vienna austria kempinski hotel berchtesgaden berchtesgaden germany kempinski hotel bristol berlin germany hotel adlon kempinski berlin germany hotel taschenbergpalais kempinski dresden germany kempinski hotel frankfurt gravenbruch frankfurt germany falkenstein grand kempinski frankfurt k nigstein germany villa rothschild kempinski frankfurt k nigstein germany hotel atlantic kempinski hamburg germany hotel vier jahreszeiten kempinski munich germany san clemente palace kempinski venice italy kempinski hotel san lawrenz & kempinski residences san lawrenz gozo malta kempinski hotel bah a & private wing estepona spain grand hotel kempinski geneva switzerland kempinski grand hotel des bains & kempinski residences st moritz switzerland eastern europe 15 hotels & residences edit kempinski hotel grand arena bansko bulgaria kempinski hotel adriatic istria croatia kempinski hotel corvinus budapest hungary kempinski hotel cathedral square vilnius lithuania hotel baltschug kempinski moscow russia kempinski hotel moika 22 st. petersburg russia kempinski grand hotel gelendzhik gelendzhik russia kempinski palace portoro portoro slovenia grand hotel kempinski high tatras slovakia kempinski hotel the dome belek turkey kempinski hotel barbaros bay bodrum & kempinski residences barbaros bay bodrum turkey ira an palace kempinski istanbul turkey kempinski residences astoria istanbul turkey bellevue residences istanbul managed by kempinski istanbul turkey ma ka residences istanbul managed by kempinski istanbul turkey africa 9 hotels & residences edit kempinski hotel fleuve congo kinshasa democratic republic of congo drc djibouti palace kempinski djibouti djibouti kempinski hotel soma bay soma bay egypt kempinski nile hotel garden city cairo egypt royal maxim palace kempinski cairo egypt kempinski hotel gold coast city accra ghana olare mara kempinski villa rosa kempinski masai mara kenya nairobi kenya kempinski seychelles resort baie lazare mahe seychelles middle east 12 hotels & residences edit kempinski hotel amman amman jordan kempinski hotel aqaba aqaba jordan kempinski hotel ishtar dead sea jordan kempinski summerland hotel & resort beirut lebanon kempinski residences & suites doha doha qatar marsa malaz kempinski the pearl doha qatar kempinski al othman hotel al khobar saudi arabia burj rafal hotel kempinski riyadh saudi arabia emirates palace abu dhabi uae kempinski hotel ajman ajman uae kempinski hotel mall of the emirates dubai uae kempinski hotel & residences palm jumeirah dubai uae asia 3 hotels & residences edit hotel indonesia kempinski jakarta indonesia kempinski hotel nay pyi taw nay pyi taw myanmar siam kempinski hotel & kempinski residences siam bangkok bangkok thailand china and mongolia 20 hotels & residences edit kempinski hotel beijing lufthansa center & residences beijing china sunrise kempinski hotel and yanqi island managed by kempinski beijing china kempinski hotel changsha changsha china kempinski hotel chengdu chengdu china kempinski hotel chongqing chongqing china kempinski hotel dalian dalian china kempinski hotel fuzhou fuzhou china kempinski hotel guiyang guiyang china kempinski hotel harbin harbin china kempinski hotel huizhou huizhou china the one executive suites managed by kempinski grand kempinski hotel shanghai shanghai china shanghai china kempinski hotel shenyang shenyang china kempinski hotel shenzhen shenzhen china kempinski hotel suzhou suzhou china kempinski hotel taiyuan taiyuan china kempinski hotel khan palace ulaanbaatar mongolia kempinski hotel wuxi wuxi china kempinski hotel xiamen xiamen china kempinski hotel yinchuan yinchuan china global hotel alliance edit kempinski is a founding member of the global hotel alliance gha which was founded in 2004 . 6 gha brings together 32 brands with more than 500 hotels spread across 76 countries in its portfolio . members of the discovery 7 programme receive recognition and rewards across more than 500 hotels resorts palaces and spas in all of the gha hotels . local experiences the core of the discovery programme are unique authentic experiences which are curated by each hotel to give a taste of local traditions and culture . social responsibility edit as an internationally active company kempinski has introduced its own corporate social responsibility programme . 8 in this respect the company is primarily committed in the areas of health and safety . in addition individual kempinski hotels support social projects in specific locations to improve public welfare locally . be edit as one of the founding members of be health association kempinski believes that business can make a positive impact in