After Germany's defeat in
World War II, Müller lost control of Schloss Elmau. From 1947, the premises served as a home for displaced
concentration camp survivors, operated by the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. From 1957, Schloss Elmau became best known for chamber music, with the
Amadeus Quartet,
Benjamin Britten,
Julian Bream,
Yehudi Menuhin and
Alfred Brendel performing there. Also in 1957,
Group 47 chose the castle for one of its semiannual invitation-only retreats. In the early hours of 7 August 2005 a fire broke out in the Schloss, caused by a faulty electric blanket belonging to the former manager, Ducci Mesirca. The fire destroyed nearly the entire top floor of the main building, without any serious casualties. The hotel has since been rebuilt by architect
Christoph Sattler and the Munich-based Architects from DBLB. It later became a five-star hotel featuring 123 rooms and suites, as well as a 300-seat concert hall and several restaurants. The Schloss Elmau Retreat features 47 suites. The hotel is a forum for international conferences and meetings. It is a member of
The Leading Hotels of the World. The hotel is located in the mountain valley between the city of
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (a distance is about 15 km) and Mittenwald in Bavaria at the foot of the Wetterstein mountain range near the village of Klais. The hotel can be reached either by a private road from Klais, or on foot through the Partnach Gorge, the entrance to which is located at the Winter Olympic Stadium in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Eckbauer Bahn cable car followed by about 4 km on foot can be used to reach the castle. Near the castle is the four-star hotel Kranzbach, formerly Schloss Kranzbach. == Culture ==