Book Hotel Koldingfjord in Kolding, Denmark

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Koldingfjord's original name was "Christmas Seal Sanatorium". Postmaster Einar Holboll had the idea of selling Christmas seals so that rich and poor alike could contribute to helping weak and ill children. When people sent Christmas cards to one another, they gave two extra pennies for a Christmas seal that was then placed on the envelope next to the stamp. In this way, they helped to finance the construction of several sanatoriums. Koldingfjord was the first Christmas seal sanatorium to be built in Denmark. The sale of Christmas seals began in 1904 and brought in DKK 67,000. It was decided that the money would be used to build a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis. After a substantial amount of legal wrangling, a piece of property called Louisehøj in Kolding, and the adjacent hills, were purchased. The Christmas sanatorium was under construction from 1907-1911. The construction budget was DKK 600,000, but the final cost was one million kroner as a result of many difficult problems with the subsoil, which was very soft. In order to create a stable subsoil, it was necessary to use piles, which were pounded into the ground to prevent the buildings from sliding into the fjord. People say that just as much was built under as above ground! From 1911 to 1960 the buildings functioned as a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis and were thus an important player in the fight against this fearful widespread disease. The buildings had different functions. Originally, there was an outdoor dormitory in the spot where the terrace is currently located. The kitchen, children and staff dining room, area for light baths and woodwork shop were placed where the conference facilities are now. The current reception area used to be a large sitting room, while the 100s-hallway contained rooms for the doctors, x-ray facilities and large sick rooms. On the first floor, there were small rooms in the middle and sick rooms on each side. The uppermost floor, which had an operating room and dental clinic in the middle, also had sick rooms on each side. Behind the main building in the building where the Magnolia and Beech Rooms are located, there was originally a gymnasium and boiler room, while the side buildings known today as Dagmar's Palace and Christian's Palace were used as a boarding school and office. After 1960, the buildings were taken over by an association for the mentally handicapped in the municipality of Vejle. From 1983 to 1987 most of the buildings remained empty until a company called Nurses' Real Estate Ltd. purchased the buildings with the intention of creating a modern hotel and conference centre, thus 1983 marks the end of an era and use of the site as a Christmas seal sanatorium. From 1988 to 1990 the listed buildings were renovated and modified. On the inside, the property has been completely renovated, modernised and equipped with everything a modern hotel and conference centre requires. Work was completed on 1 May 1990 and the property opened with the name Hotel Koldingfjord.