2. Hotel Perrin, formerly known as the Hotel Sélect, 9 rue de Strasbourg
Hotel Sélect, built in 1932-33 in the station district, was an important stop for many Jews. It was located at 9 Strassburger Strasse and became Hotel Carlton after its merger with the neighboring Hotel Klensch in the late 1950s. Since 2020, after a thorough renovation, it has been continued as Hotel Perrin. In the 1930s, it was the place where many Jewish refugees were able to find affordable accommodation whenever they were stranded in Luxembourg and had to wait in the transit country for passage and an affidavit to the USA or South America. It was also known and liked by artists living in Luxembourg. It comes as no surprise then that the actors Georg Braun and Ernst Hartmann as well as the actress Grete Bittner from the exile theater group The Comedy stayed at Hotel Sélect, as did Max and Jacoba Ellenzweig, who ran a theater for children in Luxembourg for a while.
Hotel Sélect, built by the building contractor Jean Perrin based on the plans of the Lugano-born architect Louis Rossi, opened on May 10, 1933. It comprised 40 rooms and is considered a fine example of Art Deco architecture in Luxembourg. It offered modern comfort and had an elevator. The hall and the dining room were bathed in light because of two glass domes. A large stained-glass window in the reception area, decorated with stylized flowers and ornaments, faced the inner courtyard. A special eye-catcher was the carpeted floor with floral motifs, which, according to the Luxemburger Wort, gave the hotel a metropolitan flair. On the ground floor was the Dancing Mascotte, where numerous vaudeville artists from the USA and different European countries appeared. The hotel was managed by Jean Heiser, a former sportsman and experienced restaurateur who previously ran an inn of the same name in Esch-Alzette and later a restaurant at Luxembourg train station. He was known for his social attitude and his rejection of the rise of National Socialism in Germany. When he died on November 9, 1939, his widow, Marie Manderscheid, took over the business.
Since the number of Jews seeking refuge in Luxembourg sharply increased after the German invasion of Poland, the Jewish aid organization ESRA, in agreement with Mrs. Heiser-Manderscheid, decided to set up a people’s kitchen at Hotel Sélect, where around 300 exiled Jewish people could eat a hot meal daily. Musician Kurt Heumann was overjoyed when ESRA allowed him and his family to dine at Hotel Sélect at lunchtime and on Friday evenings. The kitchen was kosher, supervised by the rabbinate, and run by Mrs. Fraenkel. Kitchen staff and waiters were also Jewish refugees. The guests were served at long tables in three shifts. Punch cards with names were introduced so that no one could cheat and make repeated appearances. On October 24, 1939, Hotel Sélect was also the meeting point for 180 Polish nationals who lived in Luxembourg and were subsequently taken to France via Brussels to serve in the Polish Army formed in France after the German invasion of Poland.
Hotel Sélect was also a place for gatherings of exiled Jews and social events. Hugo Heumann mentions in his diary a Hanukkah celebration with coffee, hot chocolate, cake, and gifts, and various artistic performances. The Viennese composer Bruno Granichstaedten and his partner Rosalie Kaufmann are said to have performed songs from his new operetta, Sonili, set in Luxembourg and written by Josy Imdahl. The singer Herr Flemming and the writer Karl Schnog are also said to have taken part in the celebration.
In addition to Hotel Sélect, there were other hotels that accommodated Jewish refugees who were in transit under an agreement reached between ESRA and the Ministry of Justice after the Évian Conference, for example Hotel Italia on Rue d’Anvers. For the hotels, which were suffering from a difficult economic situation due to the lack of tourists, the agreements with ESRA to take in Jewish refugees for several months were quite interesting. The guests were also praised for being ‘quiet and decent people’.
The occupation of Luxembourg by German troops meant the end of the people’s kitchen at Hotel Sélect. However, despite her anti-German attitude, Mrs. Heiser-Manderscheid managed to continue running the hotel under the name Strassburger Hof until the end of the war. Afterwards, the hotel resumed normal operations under its old name. In particular, its dance events with Luxembourgish orchestras attracted a large audience.
