Germania Han

We are visiting one of the first reinforced concrete structures of Istanbul, Germania Han, now known as Orientbank Hotel Istanbul. The structure, which makes those who see it feel the baroque atmosphere of Central European architecture and resembles an isosceles triangle, exhibits a characteristic stance with its green dome and tower, and is one of the important examples of civil architecture of Istanbul with its transformation.

The structure, which started to serve as the Ottoman branch of Deutsche Bank in the early 1900s, was built with the design of Prussian Architect August Jasmund. The bank's materials, which were seized by the Allied Powers that occupied Istanbul at the end of World War I, were moved to its branch in Galata, and Germania Han was closed. After the Treaty of Lausanne, the bank's management was returned to the bank representatives in 1923, and the bank resumed its activities. The bank's belongings, which were closed again in 1944 after the rupture of Turkish-German relations with World War II, were purchased by Türkiye Kredi Bankası.

The building, whose restoration was completed by Mimar Sinan Genim in 1989, served as a Yapı Kredi Bank branch for a while, then was restored again in 2018 and opened as a hotel under the name Orientbank Hotel Istanbul in 2020.