Lloyds Hotel
360° PanoTour
Lloyds Hotel – virtual panoramic tour
Pano-Tour Lloyds Hotel 1/3
In Möllerfjord, the northeastern branch of inner Krossfjord, there is a slightly peculiar hut on a small peninsula called Regnardneset. Painted in bright orange colour, it carries the proud name “Lloyds Hotel” and is decorated with 5 stars and a sign that says “Lloydagentur Möllerhafen” (Lloyd’s agency Möllerfjord).
The story goes back to the German “Zeppelin expedition” in 1910, when count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was in Spitsbergen with the steamer Mainz to look for a place suitable as airship base. Count von Zeppelin was strongly interested and involved in the development of airships, which are now connected to his name. Laughed at in earlier years, he enjoyed considerable support by 1910, even Prince Heinrich of Prussia, son of emperor Wilhelm II., was interested enough in the project to join the count on his 1910 expedition to Spitsbergen.
They occupied large parts of Spitsbergen between Kongsfjord and Raudfjord, a practice which was quite common on those years, when Spitsbergen was still Terra nullius (no man’s land). Later, it should have been possible to find a good place for an airship base somewhere in this large area.
Pano-Tour Lloyds Hotel 2/3
In 1912, the shipping company North German Lloyd took over the possions from 1910, but did not do much there other than building a hut in 1912 (or 1925, depending on source), which was a common way to keep a claim upright. This hut got later known as “Lloyds Hotel” and it quickly became a popular cruise ship destination. These left plaques with their names and dates on the inside walls of the hut, thus turning it into a kind of little museum for the cruise ship history in Spitsbergen, which is going back later than you might think: it is a regular activity since the late 19th century and not at all a very recent invention.
Pano-Tour Lloyds Hotel 3/3
Lloyds Hotel is a cosy little hut, but it has hardly enough space for the passengers of a cruise ship. Comfort is limited, and when I shot this panorama (2014), the wood burning stove was out of order, a vital piece of equipment in any hut if it is to be used. But nevertheless, Lloyds Hotel deserves every one of its 5 stars for the surrounding scenery. Möllerfjord is surrounded by one of the fines mountain and glacier panoramas in northwestern Spitsbergen, and a fine day in this spectacular landscape is pure arctic pleasure.
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last modification: 2019-04-19 ·
copyright: Rolf Stange
Having just been there, I totally agree with the author.
The ‘hotel’ is A glorified packing crate, but the surrounding Krossfjorden scenery, with its magnificent mountains and glaciers, make this a page from the’Book of Wonders’.
A truly ethereal experience.
B.I. Negrin