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Posada Alemana (Spanish for "German Inn" or "German Lodge") was a hotel complex built and owned by Colombian former drug lord Carlos Lehder, located on the road that connects the cities of Armenia, to the north 175 km (109 mi), and Pereira 284 km (110 sq mi), and close to the road that goes to the town of Salento 88 km (34 sq mi), Quindío Department, Colombia. And 296.5 km (184.2 mi) west of Bogotá. The estate covers about 64.137 km (24.763 sq mi) of land. Following Lehder's capture in 1987, the Inn was subject to looting, abandonment and expropriation by the Colombian government. Today it is an ecological park owned by the government of the department of Qundío.

History

Background

After his return to Colombia, Carlos Lehder, a native of Armenia, had returned to Colombia from Norman's Cay, acting as an investor businessman who was bringing development and well-being to the department of Quindío. The Inn was built built on an old Cyclo-cross track in 1981 and opened in 1982 in honor of his father's eponymous property that had been closed by the government of president Eduardo Santos as one of its measures against the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis and its migrants in Colombia in World War II.

Rise

The hotel staff was trained by SENA, which sent instructors to the regional headquarters of the department, although they did not always work at the inn as they tended to steal various items. Lehder used to hold parties where he hired film crews.

The Inn had several Swiss-style cabins, a wine bar, a cage with Andean condors, another cage with tigers and another with llamas, although the Posada owed its popularity to a real-size statue of John Lennon commissioned by Lehder from the famous Colombian sculptor Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, one of the firsts made after his murder, the first of its kind in Latin America, and with this statue in the Inn a nightclub was built with photos of Lennon showing his biography and with wines and an apple at the entrance (alluding to the logo of Apple Corps). The statue was controversial at the time because Lennon was depicted naked in a German worker's helmet (alluding to the song Working Class Hero), with his guitar; his Rickenbacker 325 used in the early years of The Beatles, with two holes representing shots fired by Mark David Chapman in Lennon's murder, his left hand had the word PEACE (PAZ) and it's genitals the word LOVE (AMOR). Lehder and some friends also used to put candles on the sculpture when they sent their drug shipments.

At the Posada, Lehder also launched his National Latin Movement, a political movement with which Lehder intended to pursue his political career.

Downfall and fate

The inn was partially abandoned when Lehder went into hiding following the persecution of the minister of justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla against drug trafficking, and his subsequent murder. In 1985 the inn was victim of a fire that destroyed the restaurant and part of the bar.

Following Lehder's capture and extradition in 1987, the inn was the target of looting by people looking for hidden money or valuables. Years later, in 1998, the inn, after having been abandoned and in ruins for several years, was expropriated by the Colombian government. The Lennon statue was stolen in late 2003 and is believed to have returned to the widow of Arenas Betancourt. In 2020, the government of the department of Quindío announced the creation of an ecological theme park after the property became its property.

References

1. "La Posada Alemana" [The German Inn]. Cronica del Quindio (in European Spanish). Armenia, Quindio. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
2. "La Posada Alemana ya pertenece al gobierno del Quindío". El Quindiano. May 12, 2022.
3. Monroy, Julian Camilo Rios (March 12, 2020). "Posada Alemana y otros bienes se convertirán en proyectos turísticos". El Tiempo.
4. García, Germán Sastre (March 12, 2020). "Posada alemana se convirtió en completo turístico en Quindío". Rcn Radio.
5. "Carlos Lehder: Bonanza y ruina del capo que hizo a Escobar". Univision.
6. "Especial: Recordando La Posada Alemana, parte II". Cronica del Quindio.
7. "Una mancha en la familia". January 15, 2021.
8. "EL LIBRO DE LEHDER/ La estatua homenaje a Lennon, que adornó la Posada Alemana" [THE BOOK OF LEHDER/ The statue in homage to Lennon, which adorned the Posada Alemana]. El Quindiano (in Spanish). 22 January 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
9. ^ The Two Shores (14 September 2019). "¿Qué pasó con el John Lennon de Carlos Lehder?" [What happened to Carlos Lehder's John Lennon?]. Las 2 Orillas (www.las2orillas.co) (in Spanish). Las Dos Orillas Foundation. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
10. Restrepo Tabares, Daniel Alejandro (18 July 2023). "Carlos Lehder, el exnarcotraficante quindiano que pagó su pena en Estados Unidos" [Carlos Lehder, the former drug trafficker from Quindio who served his sentence in the United States]. Cronica del Quindio (in European Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
11. Santanilla, Eliécer (27 June 2020). "La Posada Alemana, Cuento Criollo de un Capo" [The German Inn, A Creole Tale of a Capo]. La Cola de Rata (www.lacoladerata.co) (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
12. Figueroa Arias, David Alejandro (31 October 2018). "Especial: Recordando La Posada Alemana, parte II" [Special: Remembering the German Inn, part II]. Cronica del Quindio (in European Spanish). The Chronicle. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
13. "La Posada Alemana ya pertenece al gobierno del Quindío" [The German Inn now belongs to the Quindío government]. El Quindiano (in Spanish). 12 May 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
14. Lifton, Dave (17 October 2012). "Colombian Drug Lord Had Awful John Lennon Statue". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
15. "Copia archivada". Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
16. Álvarez De las salas, Duván Alfonso (13 March 2020). "Antes y después de la Posada Alemana, la mansión en ruinas de Lehder" [Photos: Before and after the German Inn, Lehder's ruined mansion]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
17. Figueroa Arias, David Alejandro (30 October 2018). "Especial: Recordando La Posada Alemana, parte I" [Special: Remembering the German Inn, part I]. Cronica del Quindio (in European Spanish). The Chronicle. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
18. https://caracol.com.co/emisora/2020/03/13/armenia/1584106665_007279.html
19. Armenian Snail (13 March 2020). "Casa de ex narcotraficante Carlos Lehder se convertirá en parque en Quindío" [Former drug trafficker Carlos Lehder's house will become a park in Quindío]. Caracol Radio (in Spanish). Armenia. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
20. https://noticias.caracoltv.com/antioquia/la-posada-alemana-de-carlos-lehder-sera-ahora-un-ecoparque-del-quindio
21. https://www.quindio.gov.co/noticias-2020/noticias-mayo-2020/la-posada-alemana-como-ejemplo-de-reconciliacion-en-el-programa-en-vivo-con-el-gobernador-este-jueves
22. https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/fincas-del-narcotraficante-carlos-lehder-se-convertiran-en-un-parque-ecologico/656424/
23. https://caracol.com.co/radio/2003/12/12/judicial/1071183600_085848.html

• Houses in Colombia
• Medellín Cartel
• Former zoos
• Buildings and structures in Quindío Department
• Tourist attractions in Quindío Department