Villa Seeblick

Villa Seeblick

Ostseebad Binz
Strandpromenade 22

Former house names: Villa Seeblick, St. Hubertus, Villa Rheingold

Today: Villa Charlotte

Architecture: In the book “Pommersche Bäderarchitektur” by Wolfgang Schneider & Torsten Seegert, the house is described as follows: Nestled between the “Bon Séjour” and “Dünenhaus” houses, which are similarly constructed in terms of the basic design, this two-storey building embodies a fundamentally different construction method: the basic cube, with its hipped roof structure on all sides and the dormers that simultaneously emerge from it, is more reminiscent of a Wilhelminian-style city house than a typical seaside villa. It is the numerous additional elements that create the typical seaside resort style: on the rear side of the building, in the southern area, there is a tower construction that extends above the building by one full storey. At the top, this tower is closed off by a wide, surrounding cornice, which is adjoined by the actual tower dome. The tower is crowned by a towering flagpole. … The changes to the building have significantly and extensively altered its appearance: The ground floor has been extended by a massive extension that juts out a long way from the former building front and extends across the entire width. Above this extension, the original two-storey loggia has also given way to a modified design, which extends across the entire width as a highly dissected ensemble with different glass elements. The round-arched windows of the dormers have been preserved; however, the missing bars of the windows arranged in the pointed dormers suggest a renovation that was not very respectful of tradition. The old side loggia has completely fallen victim to the expanded front. The tower’s basic structure has remained unchanged, but it no longer has a flagpole.

Built: Around 1896

History/owners until 1945: It can be assumed that Lieutenant Colonel Tripcke was the builder and thus the first owner. The villa could be found in guidebooks and local maps from 1902 onwards. In the 1905 guidebook “Binz Ostseebad Insel Rügen”, the Villa Seeblick was listed as follows in the accommodation directory: Villa Seeblick (owner Oberstl. Tripcke, castellan Peters), 14 rooms (no kitchen). Four years later (according to the 1909 Binzer travel guide), the castellan, i.e. the administrator, demonstrably changed from Peters to Weithaas. Lieutenant Colonel Tripcke remained the owner.

Around 1912, the villa’s name was changed to “St. Hubertus am Strande”. This usually went hand in hand with a change of ownership. This cannot be proven at present. The villa was listed as “St. Hubertus” on the 1925 map of the Baltic Sea resort of Binz, but it was not included in the directory of apartments. In 1933, the Grieben travel guide (volume 65) covering Hiddensee, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin and information for motorists (29th edition) stated: “Wine taverns:… St. Hubertus, beach promenade…”

At the beginning of the 1920s, gastronomic offers in the villa were also mentioned, including “Berliner Schlemmerkeller” and “Bräustüble”. The gastronomic use with different names continued until the mid-1990s.

The lodging house was given another name in the mid/late 1930s: “Hotel Rheingold”. Rheingold, part of the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung”, is an opera by Richard Wagner. It could be that the new owner had a particular affinity for operas or was a lover of Richard Wagner. In any case, this name was used well into the GDR era. A restaurant with a Rheingold bar was also part of the lodging house’s offer. Charlotte Steppuhn was named as the last owner.

GDR era: In the summer of 1950, the accommodation directory for the Baltic resort of Binz on the island of Rügen listed the Rheingold as belonging to Ms. v. Webern, with 12 beds. It is not currently known what relationship Ms. or Mr. v. Webern had to Ms. Charlotte Steppuhn. Ms. Steppuhn was the last owner to be expropriated as part of the 1953 campaign.

The villa was then used as a residential building. On the ground floor there was a gastronomic establishment, ranging from a milk bar to Café Grand.

After 1990: Charlotte Steppuhn died in September 1990. The sole heir is her “Charlotte Steppuhn Foundation, Children’s Charity”, founded in August 1986, which got the villa back after 1990. The foundation sold the Villa Rheingold to a private individual. From 1990 to 1995, a Mr. Ließmann ran the “Grand Restaurant” as a tenant. Unfortunately, he was unable to continue the business due to major water damage. Since then, the villa has stood empty. “Rheingold” was the last unrenovated building on Binz’s beach promenade. The Berlin-based Primus AG bought the villa. It was demolished in 2017 and the villa was completely renovated. A new building with nine residential units was created, which were sold in 2019/20. Since 2021, the apartments have been offered for holiday use. The house is now called Villa Charlotte, in homage to the owner Charlotte Steppuhn.

Present use: holiday apartments

Interesting facts/anecdotes: The pilasters of the villa on the promenade side, the relief-like reinforcement on one wall that imitates the appearance of a column, have been saved from the old building and integrated into the new house. The wonderfully crafted animal heads can still be seen at the top of the pilasters.

Photos: Binzer Bucht Tourismus collection, Lutz Grünke, Stephan Zobler

Text: Binzer Bucht Tourismus, additions – Firma Boy’s Reisebegleitung