An Israeli family that tried to book a room at a hotel in Bavaria received a response that shocked Germany and Jewish communities across Europe: “We are sorry, Jews are not allowed in our hotel”.
The message was sent on June 2 through the platformBooking.com by Hotel Zum Hirschen, a family-run establishment with over 120 years of history located in the town of Lam, near the border with the Czech Republic. Following the complaint filed by the family, the hotel was removed from the platform and German authorities opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident.
The establishment apologized shortly afterward and claimed that the message was the result of a mistake. It explained that in recent months it had suffered attempts of fraud and phishing through Booking.com and mistakenly assumed that the request from Israel was part of one of those scams. The hotel stated that it had contacted the family directly to apologize and acknowledged that what happened was “unacceptable”.
Flags of Israel and Germany
However, the explanations did not prevent a strong public reaction. Talya Lador, the Israeli Consul General for Southern Germany, expressed her outrage by asking: “Have we gone back to the thirties?”. According to the diplomat, antisemitism “is not a Jewish or Israeli problem, but a threat to German democracy.”
Leaders of the German Jewish community also condemned the episode. Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, pointed out that it is almost irrelevant whether the message was born out of hatred or carelessness, as it reflects a reality that many Jews currently face. For his part, Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, stated that the phrase “Jews are not allowed” cannot be justified under any circumstances.
The European Jewish Congress described the case as deeply disturbing and warned that it evokes some of the darkest chapters of European history. The organization also highlighted that the incident occurs in a context of rising antisemitism in Germany. In 2024, more than 6,200 antisemitic crimes and incidents were recorded in the country, including 173 violent acts.
Although the hotel insists that it rejects all forms of discrimination and claims that the accusations do not reflect its actual policy, the episode has once again highlighted a growing concern among European Jews: that expressions that seemed banished after World War II continue to appear, alarmingly, in everyday life.
