Carl Kämp

Kämp began his career as a waiter and cashier at various restaurants in Helsinki. In 1872, he inherited the lease to the Operakällaren restaurant in the city's new theatre building (now the Swedish Theatre). The following year he married Maria Dorothea Elise Moss (1853–1929). In 1874, he became the manager of Brunnshuset, a leading restaurant in Helsinki. In 1878, he had the restaurant garden illuminated with electric lamps for two months, one of the earliest uses of electric light in Finland. During his tenure at Brunnshuset, the venue also provided catering for the Finnish General Exhibition of 1876, the country's first major industrial exhibition.

In 1884, Kämp purchased a plot at the corner of North Esplanade and Glogatan from goldsmith Carl Fridolf Ekholm to build a first-class hotel. He commissioned architect Theodor Höijer to design a five-story building. To finance the project, which the Finnish Senate considered to be of national importance, Kämp applied for a state loan of 500,000 Finnish marks. The Senate, however, approved only 350,000 marks, with the remaining capital being provided by his neighbour Fredrik Wilhelm Grönqvist, who was the developer behind the grand Grönqvist Building across Glogatan. The building was given a red-brick facade bearing the name "Hotel Kämp", and fitted with modern interiors including a hydraulic lift, a banquet hall and around 80 guest rooms.

The hotel was inaugurated on 29 October 1887, with 400 invited guests present. The entire building was lit in electric light, a brass band played from the gallery, and a vocal quartet performed. Hotel Kämp offered a standard of comfort unprecedented in Helsinki at the time, with international cuisine and amenities aimed at a well-travelled clientele, and quickly became a central meeting place for the city's social and cultural life.