The Lloyd has an interesting history. It was built as an emigrant hotel by the shipping company Royal Dutch Lloyd. It was built right next to the dock where their ships left for the Americas The hotel opened in 1921 after WW1. My people in eastern Europe where seeking a better life in America. The trains arrived at the hotel and after being checked in they stayed in the Hotel until the ship was ready to sail. Mostly they ended up in South America. The shipping company went bankrupt and the hotel was closed in 1935.
Prior to the second world war the hotel was reopened in 1939 as a refugee center for Jewish people escaping Nazi Germany. It was from here that the ship of the damed (SS St. Louis) left with over 900 jews fleeing Europe. The jews were refused entrance to Cuba and the U.S. and had to return to Europe where most of them ended up being swept up the the Nazis and transported to concentration cams.
In 1941 the Nazis converted the hotel into a prison and after the was it continued to be used as a prison. In 1965 it was converted into a juvenile detention center. It was used for artist studios from 1989 to 1999.
In 1996 the municipality organized a competition for new hotel plans for the building resulting in the opening ofthe current Lloyd Hotel in 2004.
Here're a few pics;
Kievit Bird that is a beloved bird of the region with an exceptional song. The Frieslanders have a tradition where the first person to find a kievit egg in a season is bestowed with gifts, acclaim and status by the community.
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