During its heyday in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Geiger was a leading hotel, with many financiers and aristocrats among the guests.

Industrialisation during the nineteenth century led to the rapid growth of an urban middle class in Germany with sufficient time and money to take holidays.

The German word for nightmare is "Alptraum", but by 1849 romantic artists such as Ludwig Richter and Caspar David Friedrich had nevertheless shown people how to appreciate the beauty of the Alps.

[6] Growth in guest numbers was sustained by German unification and the new rail connections which made it easier to market the Bavarian Alps as a tourist destination, attracting visitors from Germany's burgeoning industrial regions far beyond Munich.

The tourism boom persuaded the Geigers to invest in a major extension of the building in 1874, constructing an extra wing on its south-eastern side.

Visitors gathered on nearby public paths in the hope of catching a glimpse of Hitler, which led to a proliferation of security measures and restrictions on access a few kilometers to the east of the hotel.

By the time of the Second World War, which broke out in 1939, the Hotel Geiger had become a rest and recreation centre for Luftwaffe officers: caves and tunnels carved into the hillside to provide shelter from bombing date from this period.

[10] In addition to John F. Kennedy, the guest registers disclose that Prince Maximilian of Baden, later a Chancellor of Germany, stayed at the Geiger in 1911.

[9] Hotel guests between 1945 and 1997 included Anwar Sadat, Walter Scheel, Pierre Trudeau, Prince Albert of Monaco, The Bee Gees and Elvis Presley.