In 1928, Bernhard Luis Sr. leased the Knepper inn.

In 1935, his son "Willi" Luis bought the business and ran it with his two brothers Johannes and Bernhard Jr.

From 1938 onwards, the cousin Mathilde Herbold, née Luis, supported the three bachelors in the inn.
Mathilde Herbold ran the business until 1995.

Since then, Luise Geilhorn, née Herbold (who has worked at the Gasthof Luis since August 1978), has run the restaurant with her husband Hans-Josef and their two sons Andreas and Alexander.

On October 4, 2004, the Geilhorn family, in cooperation with the state forestry and timber company NRW, opened the café at Hammerhof near the bison enclosure in the Hammerbach valley.

In 2018, the family opened the Hotel Gasthof Luis. It has 11 guest rooms with a total of 19 beds.

With sons Andreas (trained chef and business administrator) and Alexander (trained hotel manager), the
The 4th generation is ready to go.