Silk fabric on the walls

Several of the nineteen rooms had silk tapestries, and the ornaments showed very detailed and neat handicraft. The house's own social traditions was outstanding, and from the very first days it became a natural social gatheringgplace for the town's local citizens. In the huge cityfire of 1892, half the town and Ernst's Hotel was burnt to ashes. But Probsthahn did not surrender, and already by the end of the next year, a new hotel had risen from the ashes. This time in bricks. When Probsthahn died in 1895, his son, Georg, continued running the hotel. Under his management the hotel became a centre of a lively political debate in the new century. It was a major and memorable happening in 1905 when King Haakon came to the country and made his first visit to Kristiansand.