Concierge

Concierge [ kɔs'jɛʁʒ ] in France was originally called the keeper or porter of a castle. The label went under Hugh Capet and up to Louis XI. to a senior official of the royal family, and - after the castles had lost their military function and served as prisons - even on prison guards.

Today the word is common to both men and women; is meant by the concierge, or primarily the French janitor, caretaker or porter of a residential building.

In the luxury hotel concierge referred to in many countries of the world a profession which partially overlaps in other hotel with the receptionist. Term and career were in German-speaking countries, inter alia, known by the movie For Love or Money (1993 ) with Michael J. Fox as a concierge ( French title: Le Concierge du Bradbury ).

In German-speaking call concierge service or personal assistance service intensive and, where appropriate personal support of tenants or visitors.

Etymology

The word origin is not clear. Presumably it is derived from conservius or servus, which meant in the Latin vernacular servant or slave.

Another oft-cited version derives the word from the " comte of cierges " ( German: Count the Candles users), as the jailer was called, whose kingdom was lit by candles. This is implausible because, firstly, the word was in use much earlier, and secondly, with some confidence, no expensive wax candles came in dungeons for use, but tallow candles ( frz: " chandelle " ) or torches. " Comte des cierges " could - subject to change - have been a name given to the authorities responsible for the care of the royal house earlier Hofverwalter, who was responsible, among other things, the acquisition of the candles, but this is not historically proven. Closer is the hypothesis that " the comte cierges " a popular distortion or corruption of the word " concierge" was.

History

The concierge in the Middle Ages

The Medieval Office of the concierge du palais, even concierge du palais bailli and since 1461 only bailli du palais (about: Palace manager, Castellan ) is proved in France since the year 988. It was approximately the Office of the former mayor of the palace, where the judiciary of " concierge" who was entitled to pursue as a representative of the king, the medium and high jurisdiction and appeared on his behalf before the court was limited to the royal castle and its surrounding area. He also had the absolute power of the keys and oversaw the goalkeeper ( porter ) and the Sentinels.

When the in the heart of Paris, on the Seine Ile de la Cité castle was renewed to 1286 at the beginning of the reign of Philip IV the Fair of Enguerrand de Marigny, which furnished in one of the gate towers Logis des concierge took the name of the Conciergerie, the this oldest part of today's Palais de la Cité still carries on the Seine Ile de la Cité in the heart of Paris.

Finally, the royal family moved in 1358 his residence and gave the old castle, in which the Court of Auditors and the firm remained, the Court (French: parlement ) met and the fortified Conciergerie served as a prison.

The concierge as a prison guard

Over time, the term " concierge" of the royal house and Hofverwalter went over to the warden of the Conciergerie been converted into a prison, and later on, the guards from other prisons. The purpose of this concierge de prison ( prison concierge ) was to ensure the security of the prisoners and care to keep the input and output registers as well as a double entry of expenditure for each day that an inmate spent in prison. For the security of 200 to 300 prisoners The jailer of the Conciergerie in the 17th century decreed, however, only a workforce of average about 12 to 15 people, " five or six door closer (French: " guichetier ", literally flap guards ), two assistants, the chaplain, the pharmacist, the physician, the surgeon, about 15 people, with the inclusion of the concierges family ".

The numerical inferiority was generally offset by brutality, intimidation and other abuses of power. Particularly notorious reached the concierges de prison by the various French prisons in the Time of Terror during the French Revolution, when alone in the Conciergerie in Paris in just a few months, more than 2,700 of the unfortunate execution of their death sentence, looked forward to the guillotine.

The concierge or caretaker

The French concierge d' immeuble ( German: building - concierge) is like the German caretaker responsible in private, commercial or public buildings for the security, safety, cleanliness and maintenance. For technical skills as well as social characteristics are necessary. Objects can be residential buildings, schools, student residences, office buildings, farms or the like.

In France, the profession is regulated by law. The profession is united in a union, guidelines for working and wage conditions are laid down in a collective agreement.

The female Parisian concierge, in France, in many homes, if not, is to be found in the stairwell in her box behind the Wagentor or the front door, the French writer Eugène Sue in the feuilleton novel " Les mystères de Paris " continued ( The Secrets of Paris) in the form of Madame Piplet a karikaturales monument is called with the result that today Gabby a female being in France as " piplette ". The image that the stranger has of the Paris concierge, is one of the typical stereotypes, certainly not least due to their appearance in many movies where the lodge and the messages and mail receiving it shall make and forwarding caretaker, just as in real life, the represent connecting or social element between the public and private space. Your protest against the corrupted image of the film industry brought the French concierges in May 1990 by a demonstration on the steps of the Film Festival Palace in Cannes selection.

Use of the word in the German language: the concierge service

In Germany, meanwhile housing and real estate companies and property managers have the French word "concierge " and the English name " Doorman " taken up. In this context it stands for supervisory and service personnel, which is used both in homes which lie in problem areas, as well as in luxurious apartment homes. The stated goal in the first case is to ensure safety and prevent the neglect, in the second, but also to increase the attractiveness of the property by service-oriented staff, in addition to the usual janitorial duties to the tenant "around the clock " for services such as car service, Requests for shopping and errands, restaurant reservations, care of pets, clearing, and the like should be available more. In the first case, the power is roughly equivalent to that of a traditional but ever- present on site " security and surveillance society", from the second component is a service concept has emerged for which the term " concierge service " interspersed. In upscale retailers, banks and in the transport industry is committed to the concept of concierge rather by the notion and function description or Doorman Welcome management.

However, the result from these services, sometimes considerable costs are not apportionable as operating costs to the tenant, but need to overburden on the tenant a specific, explicit and contractual agreement between the landlord or property manager and the tenant who is in it for the voluntary acquisition these costs must declare.

It is a controversial question whether service and services the residential really enriched or only expensive, burdensome and oppressive power. In conventional housing service finally has a very different role than in assisted living, the living pen or in a nursing home. In assisted living, the service is in fact identical with necessary nursing care and assistance that people need due to their current situation in life in old age. These household services are simply required. Domestic services in regular housing, however, can not or will be in Germany so far only afford a few. The majority of people currently lack the acceptance to pay contributions for incidental activities that can also be done by you. Nevertheless suspect many developers, that the desire for individually selectable household services (eg laundry and ironing services, house cleaning, grocery shopping, catering, etc.) will go through all the generations on demand in the future.

Due to the high personnel costs, which caused a concierge in the hotel sector or in private homes, the efforts in the wake of the digital revolution are increasingly been to replace the concierge through the use of new media partially or completely.

The concierge in the hotel industry

The so-called hotel concierge (French Concierge d' hôtel or concierge de grand hôtel ) is mainly employment in the luxury hotel industry. His first task is to identify potential, affluent hotel guests and VIPs and win as regulars. He is at the service of guests, usually with the highest expectations.

Under its responsibility to monitor the lobby, training, supervision, and in some cases also fall setting of Voituriers, the porter, the Liftiers, the Groom and the Bagagisten. According to the motto: " hear everything, see everything, let nothing announced " his job is to uncover every little irregularity with a trained eye and to resolve diplomatically.

He must discreet, attentive, understanding, secretive as contact the hotel guest to be of service. Thanks to the so-called " Cardex ", held under lock and a book that the governess and the bartender result in a similar form and are collected in the certain information, the concierge has the habits, know little quirks and areas of interest of the guest. His field of goes beyond the usual wake-up service, tour bookings, reservation of other hotels and the carriage of hand luggage. This service is one of the main arguments used by the luxury hotel industry woos customers. Last but not least, the high prices are justified by this, which are levied in this category of hotel.

The employment opportunities in this area are low. A newly opened luxury hotel in Paris recently conducted for 300 jobs ( in all areas ) interviews with 4,000 candidates. The hotel recorded the receipt of a total of 30,000 job applications.

The international professional association of hotel concierges, the Union Internationale des Concierges d' Hotels with the distinctive emblem, Les Clefs d'Or, a kind of insignia in the form of two gold, one above the other crossed keys, which carries the concierge on the lapel. The association has 4,500 members from 34 countries (2007). Candidates for membership must have reached a minimum age, speak two foreign languages ​​or more, demonstrate at least five years ' service hall " in a luxury hotel and teach a recommendation of at least two people.