Typically Moroccan: Riad Sabah's courtyard makes you feel like you're in another world when you enter it from the hot and busy alleys. The hotel has been built by a Waakirchner. © Klaus Wiendl
His path led Hans Kraus from the idyllic foothills of the Alps into a dream like something out of the Arabian Nights: In Marrakech, the now 59-year-old has set out as a hotelier. A visit to a Waakirchner in Morocco.
Waakirchen/Marrakesh – There is nothing to suggest that you will meet an Oberlander as a hotelier in the medina of Marrakech when looking for your next accommodation. This makes the surprise all the greater.
First, the taxi stops in front of one of the large city gates in Marrakech. Behind it is an ancient, almost endless labyrinth of narrow alleys through which no car fits. You walk past running meters of reddish-brown walls, barely pierced by windows. Only the sporadically installed doors suggest that there are residential buildings behind these endless walls of clay and lime.
Street names and house numbers – none. Thanks to the navigation system on your smartphone, this hurdle can be overcome and you are standing in front of the door sign "Riad Sabah". A Moroccan woman opens the door and says "Hello" in German. The astonishment is great, also about the riad, formerly an elegant townhouse. Similar to the Spanish patio, it has an enclosed, open-topped courtyard with walkways. You enter another world: from heat to coolness, from noise to peace.
Suddenly, there are numerous windows, small bay windows decorated with elaborate carvings. At the very top, a roof terrace traditionally crowns the house, on which there is always a light wind and there are pergolas or awnings against the heat. The empire of Hans Kraus from Upper Bavaria, which he built up together with his Moroccan wife Sabah in 2006. When he met them on holiday in 2003, it was clear to him that he would turn his back on Germany.
Connection also to the former mayor of Wiessee
Kraus was born in Munich in 1964 and grew up in Unterhaching. "I still had one foot in the city, the other already in the countryside," says Kraus (59) with an Upper Bavarian dialect. Already in high school, a connection to the Oberland arose. His chemistry, biology and physical education teacher came from Bad Wiessee, and in 1984 he was to become mayor of the town for 20 years: Herbert Fischhaber. The connection continues to this day across both continents. Especially since Kraus' parents moved to Waakirchen in 1990. "We met last autumn at the Kirchsee and then drank half a beer together at the Reutberg Monastery," says the now 80-year-old Fischhaber.
Hans Kraus now lives in Marrakech. © Klaus Wiendl
His high school graduate Kraus graduated from the Sport University Cologne. "I spent all my semester breaks from Waakirchen in the Oberland." In the process, many friendships grew that continue to this day, he says. "Most of my student friends have already been with me here in Marrakech. Then you don't just meet for a beer in the evening, then we spend a few days together." This deepens the friendships anew. "When I'm at home in Waakirchen, I have to make sure that I can make ends meet with the meetings given the short time." Because Kraus' residence is Marrakech.
There's always something to do in the two small hotels
There is always something for him to do at his two small hotels. He benefits from the fact that he has already worked in construction as a schoolboy. The beginnings as an investor in your own riad for 150,000 euros were difficult. "The Moroccans don't like to be seen in the cards," says Kraus. How the typical Moroccan plaster is made and processed, he had to learn on numerous trips to palaces and mosques. "I've talked to a lot of people." Thus, the Upper Bavarian himself became an expert in oriental architecture. "Today, no one can fool me."
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A good ten years ago, Kraus was able to open his second guest house, the "Riad Lina", named after his daughter. In contrast to her father, she has dual citizenship, which is denied to Upper Bavaria. "I could only become a Moroccan by birth. Only King Mohammed VI says you are Moroccan. But he hasn't said that to me yet."