Photo Gallery The Colorful History of the Hotel Adlon

Berlin's Hotel Adlon became an institution shortly after it opened in 1907. But tragedy has struck during preparations to film its history. An ostrich cast to portray a bird that pulled Josephine Baker in a cart in front of the hotel has died during training.
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Berlin's Hotel Adlon has a colorful history. Here, American entertainer Josephine Baker sits in an ostrich-drawn carriage outside the hotel in 1926. A stand-in for the ostrich in a new film about the hotel has died while preparing for its role.

Foto: General Photographic Agency/ Getty Images
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The Hotel Adlon has often found itself in the tabloids. A decade ago, the King of Pop Michael Jackson gave parents around the world a heart attack when he dangled his baby out the window of his third-floor room.

Foto: AP
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The hotel Adlon was originally founded in 1907 and quickly became the focal point of Berlin society. It was among the most famous hotels in Europe in the 1920s.

Foto: Hotel Adlon Kempinski
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In the 1920s and '30s, the Hotel Adlon was a popular spot for entertainers, politicians and tycoons. Here, actor Charlie Chaplin (right) talks to actress Marlene Dietrich in the hotel in 1931.

Foto: dapd
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These days, everybody who is anybody stays at Hotel Adlon, including U.S. President Barack Obama in 2008 when he visited the German capital during his campaign. Here, he chats with Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit after receiving a porcelain bear, the symbol of Berlin.

Foto: A9999 DB Michael Kappeler/ dpa
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The hotel is on Pariser Platz, the square in front of Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate. A new history of the hotel will be broadcast by the German public television station ZDF next year.

Foto: A3946 Alina Novopashina/ dpa
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The hotel is famous for its luxury -- and, among journalists who go their for interviews with the rich and famous, infamous for its 9 euro cups of coffee and 30 euro breakfasts. Here, an employee cleans the sidewalk ahead of the arrival of Prince Albert of Monaco, and his wife, Princess Charlene, earlier this week.

Foto: Wolfgang Kumm/ dpa
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The hotel's glory days ended abruptly once the Nazis took power in 1933 as tourists elected to avoid Berlin. Here, Nazis celebrate their takover of power by marching through the Brandenburg Gate and directly past the front of the Hotel Adlon.

Foto: A0009 dpa/ dpa
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The hotel largely survived World War II intact. But in early May 1945, after the Russians had invaded Berlin, the hotel caught fire and was almost completly destroyed. One wing survived. Here, soldiers from the Red Army stand on the virtually destroyed Pariser Platz in April 1945, soon after they took control of the city.

Foto: DPA
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Pariser Platz was virtually deserted during the days of communist East Berlin. It was on the east side of the Berlin Wall, but because of rules prohibiting people from coming too close to the Wall from the east, the square was a no-man's-land.

Foto: VASILY FEDOSENKO/ REUTERS