Together with the construction of the Eisenbahnstrasse (Station Road) as a connection between the city and the train station, the Hotel Victoria is built in 1870. Although the original building has been extended over the years, it is still preserved in its original appearance today – because the sustainable principle of modernizing rather than replacing old things has been followed, even if this means some challenges. In 1939 Markus Späth, the grandfather of the current owner Bertram Späth, buys the hotel and adds a kitchen and restaurant. During the Second World War and the Occupation, the hotel is temporarily used as a wardroom. 150 lunches have to be cooked daily. During this time, a second restaurant is built on the second floor, which is later converted back into rooms. Owner Markus Späth is spoilt for choice at the end of the 1950s, when two potential buyers are interested in his property – and finally decides in favor of the family business which is taken over by his son Karl Späth in 1964. Under his leadership, the restaurant with chef Hans Rudolf Treichler earns the first "Gault Milliau Star" in Freiburg. An elevator is installed in the hotel – a very progressive feature back then. In 1980, the hotel underwent another major renovation: the current building section 2 was constructed with 32 new rooms and a laundry that was state-of-the-art at the time.

Today's hosts Bertram and Astrid Späth, the third generation of the family, join the management in 1985. New ideas for environmental protection and new concepts emerge. In 1989, the Victoria hotel bar is converted into the "Cocktailbar Hemingway" which is still considered the cradle of Freiburg's cocktail scene. At the same time, the second floor in the historic building is renovated and all rooms receive their private bathrooms. Under Astrid and Bertram Späth, the existing building, which was already over 100 years old in the 1980s, is transformed together with its extension into a holistically green, sustainably managed hotel.