Built 1864-65 by Edward A. Gruning for the German Gymnastic Society and funded by London's German community: England's first purpose-built gymnasium, and host of the first indoor Olympic Games in 1866. The main hall runs 57 feet floor-to-ceiling under laminated timber trusses with cast-iron fillets, an important early use of laminated timber for broad spans. The Grand Café sits beneath the vaulted roof with the Meister Bar on the mezzanine above it.
Location
King's Cross, London
Map
Plan Your Visit
Table service
Full service at your table
Insider Intel
The Wiener Schnitzel, with warm potato salad and lingonberry — the menu carries a chef's manifesto on how it should be made. The Hähnchen schnitzel is the cheaper way in.
Daytime, when light reaches the roof of the 57-foot hall — the volume only reads properly when you can see it.
The Grand Café occupies the main hall; the Meister Bar on the mezzanine above takes drinkers without dinner. Opens 8am on weekdays.