Karlslust dance hall fire 08/02/1947
The Karlslust dance hall fire, also referred to as the Loebel’s Restaurant fire, occurred on 8 February 1947 in Hakenfelde, a district of Spandau within what was then the British sector of Berlin. The incident resulted in a reported death toll ranging between 80 and 88 individuals and is widely regarded as one of the most severe fire disasters in Germany in the period following the Second World War. Contemporary historical consensus now places the number of fatalities at 81, comprising 80 patrons and the restaurant owner, Julius Loebel, who was killed while attempting to rescue a cashbox from the premises.
Spandau Dance of Death
“This is the most terrible fire disaster in living memory in Berlin,” declared Chief Fire Director Feierabend in front of the ruins of the “Karlslust” excursion restaurant in Spandau-Hakenfelde. Beside him, many people stare stunned at the chaotic picture: 88 charred corpses, burnt beams, scorched clothes, a shoe with a charred woman’s foot, all covered in a layer of ice of frozen extinguishing water. Coffin after coffin fills up, in the hospitals 40 people groan under their burns. 108 are missing.
Berlin: Costume party ended in disaster
When Michael Jansen from Spandau passes by the property at Hakenfelder Straße 8, he often thinks of his older brother. Of what he was spared on February 8, 1947. But fortunately Horst was not in Berlin. Otherwise he would have gone dancing, to the “Karlslust”. Then he might not have survived the evening. And if – possibly seriously injured, like 150 other visitors.
75 years ago today: 81 dead in the Hakenfelde fire disaster.
On February 8, 1947, the most tragic fire disaster in Berlin’s post-war history occurred in the Spandau district of Hakenfelde. That evening, with temperatures far below zero, the first costume ball after the war was to be celebrated in the well-known Spandau entertainment venue “Karlslust” on Hakenfelder Straße. In the two-storey dance hall built of wood, around 1,000 mainly young guests gathered. Due to the outside temperatures of below -20 degrees Celsius, several iron stoves in the building were heavily fired. This led to the wooden ceiling construction in the dance hall catching fire at around 10:45 p.m. Panic broke out in the building during the eviction. Many guests wanted to pick up their winter coats at the cloakroom on their way out of the building, which, among other factors, also caused a delay in the evacuation of the building.
