The Adlon family is not entitled to any compensation for the expropriation of the famous luxury hotel at the Brandenburg Gate.
This was decided by the administrative court in Berlin on Thursday.
The heirs were initially unsuccessful in their attempt to have an earlier procedure for restitution resumed.
From the point of view of the plaintiffs, there was new evidence that the Adlons themselves had been victims of Nazi persecution.
The court did not see sufficient evidence for this.
The world-famous hotel was "instrumentalised" by the Nazis.
However, the hotel operators have not been completely squeezed out of their property.
(Ref.: VG 29 K 131/20)
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Felix Adlon, who represents the community of heirs, announced further legal steps.
"Our path does not end here," he said after the verdict was announced.
He is the great-great-grandson of hotel builder Lorenz Adlon.
The Adlon now belongs to the luxury hotel group Kempinski.
The old luxury hotel, which opened in 1907, was originally famous.
At the end of the Second World War, the hotel burned down in 1945 except for a side wing.
In 1984 this rest was also demolished.
The Adlon name remained a myth.
On August 23, 1997, the Hotel Adlon was finally reopened.