Villa Bella Vista

Villa Bella Vista

Ostseebad Binz
Strandpromenade 30

Former name: Villa Bella Vista

Today: Villa Undine

Architecture: In the book “Pommersche Bäderarchitektur” (Pomeranian Seaside Architecture) by Wolfgang Schneider and Torsten Seegert, the house is described as follows: This building stands out from the majority of the buildings on the beach promenade in a number of ways. The villa, which is set back a relatively long way from the promenade on the property, was built as a wooden structure. … Undine also stands out from many of the other buildings on the promenade in terms of its two floors and thus its height, at just two storeys. Unlike most of the other villas, this house is predominantly painted red and its layout and elevation are not particularly regular. The appearance of the building is defined by two high triangular gables with a widely protruding gabled roof, white-painted half-timbered struts and a polygonal tower with a curved dome.

Built in: 1885

History/owners until 1945: The book “Landhäuser & Villen am Meer – Rügen & Hiddensee” (by Barbara Finke & Beatrice Pippia) states: “A countess of Münster had her summer residence built in 1885 on this northern section of the promenade. The countess named her villa Bella Vista – and rightly so, because the villa stood without neighboring buildings on the wide dune area. Good relations with the Putbus royal house will have made it possible to buy a property on the beach promenade as early as 1885. The lands around Binz belonged to the principality and were generally not for sale. It was only with the founding of the “Aktiengesellschaft Ostseebad Binz” in 1888 that regular land sales took place. …

Countess zu Münster chose a stately villa with a tower and bell-shaped roof. Like most of the Volga houses, Villa Undine was originally not painted, but only oiled to make it more weather resistant. The “Aktiengesellschaft für Holzbearbeitung” (joint-stock company for woodworking), as the Kraeft company later called itself, continued to use pitch pine wood, which was common for shipbuilding, to the benefit of the houses. By using this very hard, heartwood-rich wood of the American swamp pine, which is hardly available today, the Volga houses have been well preserved. Photos of the villa shortly after completion show that the timber construction company not only delivered the house, but also the fence surrounding the property, and a pavilion, in the same style.

The layout of the villa, with the kitchen and staff rooms in the brick basement and the living rooms and bedrooms on the upper floors, indicates that the villa was not planned as a lodging house.

It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that the villa was offered as a family villa for summer guests. In 1901, the Countess of Münster sold the villa to a Mrs. Höpfner, who initially rented the house as a whole, but later also offered eight rooms individually. In 1904, Mrs. Höpfner changed the name of the house to “Undine”, the name of a female, virgin water spirit. The Binz guide of 1905 stated: Villa Undine (owner Mrs. Höpfner), also for rent as a family villa, 8 rooms.

A short time later, the Kunigk’s, a doctor couple from Berlin, purchased the villa and, according to the 1909 Binz guide, offered it as follows: Villa Undine. Magnificent location at the center of the beach promenade. Spacious, sunny, in a beautiful garden. 12 rooms furnished to the highest standards, kitchen, electric light. Individual apartments, also for rent as a family villa. (Owner: Dr. Kunigk). In the 1920s, the Kunigk family also temporarily owned the neighboring Villa Ruscha.

In the following years, Villa Undine repeatedly appeared in various travel guides. In 1925, an advertisement in the “Praktische Winke – Ostseebad Binz auf Rügen” read: Villa Undine directly on the beach, right next to the spa house. First-class establishment. Self-contained, elegantly furnished floor with kitchen and single room. Owner OTTO SAUER. Telephone 74. A year later, it was already being advertised as follows: … self-contained, elegantly furnished floor with kitchen, glass veranda and stoves…

Otto Sauer was followed by the Hattenhauer family as owners. At the end of the 1930s, the Neuruppin hotelier Hattenhauer bought Villa Undine together with the neighboring Hotel Bellevue. At that time, the villa was still surrounded by a large garden with old trees (from the book “Landhäuser & Villen am Meer – Rügen & Hiddensee” (by Barbara Finke & Beatrice Pippia).

GDR era: Shortly after the war, the villa was taken over by the Red Army. In 1951, the IG Wismut claimed the house and used it as a headquarters. With the “Rose” campaign, the expropriation took place. After that, it belonged to the Ministry of the Interior and, from the early to mid-1960s, to the GDR travel agency.

The book “Country Houses & Villas by the Sea – Rügen & Hiddensee” (by Barbara Finke & Beatrice Pippia) states the following, among other things:

“At that time, the villa was still surrounded by a large garden with old trees. Some of these were cut down in the 1970s. There were also plans to demolish the house, but fortunately this did not happen.”

After 1990: In 1991/92, the property was transferred back to the Hattenhauer family, who lovingly restored it in the mid-1990s in line with the preservation order. The villa’s apartments are now used to accommodate holidaymakers again.

Present use: privately run apartment building for holiday use

Interesting facts/anecdotes: Villa Undine is also known as the “Wolgasthaus”. The master shipbuilder Heinrich Kraeft founded his company in Wolgast in 1868. Among other things, the shipyard built prefabricated houses for Rügen and Usedom. The shipyard existed with changing owners until 1926.

High-quality woods from overseas were used for the prefabricated house, which, incidentally, was offered by catalog. These included American and Canadian softwoods, as well as tropical hardwoods. Art historians suspect that the so-called Norwegian “dragon houses” served as a template. The enthusiasm for Norway in Germany at the end of the 19th century was triggered by reports of Emperor Wilhelm’s trips to the north country. Thus, the construction of such houses is related to the Nordic-Viking shipbuilding and stave church tradition. There are a total of three “Wolgasthäuser” on Rügen, two in Binz (Undine and Liliput) and one in Göhren.

Photos: From the book “Holzhäuser aus Wolgast” by Hans-Ulrich Bauer/Reproduction of “Moderne Holzbauten” by Hermann Rückwardt, Collection Binzer Bucht Tourismus, Lutz Grünke, Binzer Bucht Tourismus/Christian Thiele

Text: Klaus Boy, Binzer Bucht Tourismus