 At the beginning of World War II, Elschner fled Germany and in 1942 the NSV (Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt), a welfare subsidiary of the NSDAP, took over ownership of the Excelsior.It was during the wartime period that the hotel became known as the "Fehling-Bunker".The title honoured Jürgen Fehling, the then director at the theatre in Königgrätzer Straße (today known as the Hebbel Theater).