Martin Grabner
Dead Sea Lido Hotel
The Lido Hotel at the Northern coast of the Dead Sea in Palestine/Israel dates back to the 1920s when it had been built by a Jordanien businessman who established the International Style building as a multifaceted meeting point for Arabs, Jews and British. After the Israeli occupation the hotel was abandoned and for a long time property of the Israel Defense Force. When I discovered and photographed it for the first time the empty Lido Hotel was about 1 km away from the current shoreline of the shrinking Dead Sea. Standing there, lost in the sands and showing the signs of decay, the ruins testified both the political and ecological dilemma of the region. Two years later, when I visited the site again, it has been torn down, only a load of rubble was remaining. Another two years later the pile had been cleared, only remnants of the steel reinforcement remind now of the almost 100-year-history of the once vibrant Lido Hotel.
