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Europe’s oldest luxury hospitality company “breaks the wall” of the hotel and offers guests the city itself.
In a world where everything is on display, true luxury is real access. Launching a radical new concept, the E.R.A.s (Experience Real Access), and a Resident Curator who opens doors money alone cannot, Kempinski reclaims the role it defined a century ago: the Curator of the Good Life.
Doha-Qatar, 06 August 2026 – Kempinski is changing what a hotel stands for. From today, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich will be more than just a luxury stay. It becomes the gateway to the city: real access to Munich in the way no hotel has offered before, the kind of access no amount of money alone can buy.
Kempinski Group does it by launching a new hospitality concept: the E.R.A.s – Experience Real Access.
The E.R.A.s are thematic narratives intrinsically linked to the soul of a city, brought to life by Local Insiders who provide exclusive access and relay the city’s untold stories, allowing guests to Experience Real Access to the destination. Kempinski asks the guiding question “What E.R.A are you in?” and invites guests to explore each destination through immersive, story-driven experiences delivered by Local Insiders who live in Munich.
Following Kempinski Munich E.R.A.s, guests can join a private flight over Bavaria’s royal castles with the Wittelsbach dynasty’s historians, who will guide their private visits and host an exclusive dinner with a private concert in the royal halls of the Nymphenburg Palace. They can savour a curated selection of Munich’s finest local beverages, or join a football legend and World Cup champion in his morning run.
“For decades, luxury has meant the same room service in different postcodes,” says Barbara Muckermann, Group CEO, Kempinski. “We are expanding the role of the Hotel by turning it inside out: the Hotel is no longer a refuge from the city, but the gateway into it. We don’t book our guests a tour. We hand them the keys to the city. The desk that once gave you a map now offers you the city itself.”
With the E.R.A.s – Experience Real Access, Kempinski reclaims its role as defined over a century ago: the Curator of The Good Life. Europe’s oldest luxury hospitality company has been in the business of the Good Life since 1872, when Berthold and Helene Kempinski opened a small bar in Berlin, where they invented the ritual of the aperitif and later turned dining into entertainment.
Behind every E.R.A. stands the Resident Curator, whose personal connections to Local Insiders open doors that money alone cannot. In 1926, Kempinski appointed Leo Kronau as the first Experience Designer, hired to curate every moment of a guest’s visit to Haus Vaterland, then the largest entertainment palace in the world. A century later, that role echoes under a new title, the Resident Curator.
Aurelia VanLyden, Vice President Experiences, Kempinski Group says, “Kempinski’s Resident Curators are inherently local, spending their careers orchestrating the city’s cultural life, they compose E.R.A.s around one thing: personal connections that open doors to the city itself. Each Resident Curator is able to provide deep, meaningful access to the destination, its culture and most importantly Local Insiders, who select the stories and experiences that the guest deems worth tasting, discovering, and learning.”
In Munich, the Resident Curator has designed three E.R.A.s – three distinct ways of experiencing Munich rather than merely visiting it. Each one is built around real access to people, places and experiences that no guidebook can give you:
THE ROYALTY ERA
A helicopter ride over five royal castles with the private historians of the Wittelsbachs, the house that ruled Bavaria for 738 years.
- Hosted by Markus & Vanessa Richter / Historians of the Wittelsbach dynasty
Most people who study Neuschwanstein do so from a distance. Markus lived within its walls for years as the castle’s resident guardian; Vanessa has studied the Bavarian kings her whole life. What they share with you is not researched. It is shared, remembered history.
Nymphenburg Palace by Royal Appointment.
- A royal banquet lunch in the Hubertus Hall or Orangerie of Nymphenburg Palace, inspired by the table of King Ludwig II and paired with fine regional Bavarian creations. Through the lunch, a string quartet performing Wagner, the composer that King Ludwig protected and adored, sets the mood.
- A dinner at the Nymphenburg Royal Residence, hosted by the Richters, with an intimate concert by Japanese pianist, sound performer, and composer Masaka Ohta.
THE CRAFTMANSHIP ERA
A painting masterclass among the artisans of Nymphenburg, handcrafting porcelain since 1747.
- Hosted by Anders Thomas, CEO, Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg
Create and paint your own unique art piece step by step, tutored by the masters.
A unique tasting of Munich’s favourite beverages poured side by side.
- Guided by Dr. Sauer, an esteemed professional holding a rare dual background in medicine and craft heritage, making him one of Munich’s few certified elite sommeliers.
Savour all six of Munich’s unique beveragesin the historic Jagdzimmer of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, the only place in the city where this tasting exists.
- Hosted by Helmut Käs, CEO of BMW Classic, the custodian of BMW’s own history.
He personally walks you through the workshops and the Classic showroom, on the site where the company was born in 1916.
THE REGENERATIVE ERA
A cold plunge into the Eisbach canal, guided by a Wim-Hof expert, and a morning run beside Lothar Matthäus, the man who led Germany to the football World Cup.
- Mario Ströhlein, a Wim Hof-certified guide, has spent years teaching cold exposure as a science, not a dare. He prepares your breath and your nerves in the calm of the hotel – then walks you to the Eisbach’s edge and back to the hotel sauna for your reset to be complete.
- Lothar Matthäus, 1990 World Cup Winner and Ballon d’Or winner, World Cup captain, and still the only German ever named FIFA Player of the Year. In the mornings, he runs the English Garden. Some mornings, you run with him.
E.R.A.s and Resident Curators will expand across Kempinski’s portfolio, with Augustine Hotel Prague – the company’s first acquisition in more than fifty years – among the next to introduce its own E.R.A.s.
The E.R.As are open to hotel guests now at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich. To explore them, visit our website.
Hi-Resolution Images can be downloaded here
About Kempinski
Kempinski Group is Europe’s oldest luxury hospitality company. Kempinski’s rich heritage of impeccable personal service and superb hospitality is complemented by the exclusivity and individuality of its properties. Today, the Kempinski Group operates 73 hotels and residences in 33 countries and has more than 21 prestigious projects currently under development around the globe. Each five-star hotel reflects the strength and success of the Kempinski brand without losing sight of its heritage; each one imbues the quality guests have come to expect from Kempinski while embracing the cultural traditions of its location. The portfolio comprises historic landmark properties, award-winning urban lifestyle hotels, outstanding resorts and prestigious residences. Kempinski is a founding member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands. www.kempinski.com www.ghadiscovery.com www.kempinski.com/loyalty
