Story

1901 - Completion of Villa Speyer for the Frankfurt banking family Beit von Speyer in the
Forsthausstrasse 62, today Kennedyallee 70.

1933 - Death of Eduard Beit von Speyer
Family Beit von Speyer: Son Herbert Beit von Speyer, his wife Elisabeth, née de Neufville, his sisters and her three children Charlotte, Erwin and Hugo Herbert, emigration due to National Socialism partly to Switzerland and North America.

Hugo Beit’s family is still living in New York. His daughter Lili Sophie Beit visited Villa Kennedy on 17th June 2007.

1937 - Max-Planck-Institute for biophysics was founded in 1937 as the “Kaiser-Wilhelm-
Institute for biophysics”. The institute was accommodated in the representative Villa Speyer by the city of Frankfurt, and was in usage till its relocation to Niederursel campus in spring 2003.

1959 - Owner city of Frankfurt, first documented land register entry.

1963 - Name change of Forsthausstrasse to Kennedyalle after the death of US president John F. Kennedy on 22nd November 1963. John F. Kennedy visited Frankfurt on 25th June 1963.

2000 - Fay Gmbh acquires the 12.000 m2 area in May 2000 for 18 Million German mark from the city of Frankfurt. Afterwards, an architectural competition for a hotel construction started and London-based Dr Porphyrios & Associates was selected to design the hotel.

2000 - 2006 - Construction phase
Kick-off and heart of the new complex is the heritage-protected Villa Speyer, built in 1901 in neo-gotic style. Enlarged by one storey in close collaboration with the monument preservation, Villa Speyer still keeps its dominance even after the completion of the five-storey hotel complex.

2006 - Opening of Villa Kennedy, a Rocco Forte hotel
Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft mbH acquires Villa Kennedy for 70 million Euro. Sir Rocco Forte & Family (Luxury Hotels) GmbH concludes a lease contract with CGI for Villa Kennedy. Mannheim-based Fay Group developed and realised the 5-star-superior-hotel and is awarded the MIPIM Award 2006 in the category “hotels/leisure facilities” in March – the “real estate Oscar”.

2016 - GEG German Estate Group acquires the building Kennedyallee 70.