50 years of Burg­tiefe on Fehmarn

A holiday with a sea view – won­derful! Who doesn’t dream of that? But if the holiday apartment is located on the 13th floor of a high-rise building from the 1970s or is opti­mised for four people in an area of 35 square metres, does that still cor­re­spond to what we would like from our holidays today? And can good archi­tecture make up for the lack of con­tem­porary comfort? Holiday guests at the Burg­tiefe holiday complex rarely realise that they are staying in an archi­tec­tural work of art. How could they: There is no sign indi­cating that this is the design of one of the most important archi­tects of the 20th century. For a long time, the relevant aut­ho­rities on Fehmarn also failed to app­re­ciate the archi­tec­tural heritage. Over the years, parts were demo­lished, and new, unso­phisti­cated buil­dings were added. Since 2004 the entire ensemble has been heritage-listed.

The idea of a holiday home complex coin­cided with the boom period of tourism in the 1960s. Many Baltic resorts increased the number of beds they offered by building large holiday housing com­plexes. With the con­s­truction of the Feh­marnsund Bridge, which opened in 1963, Fehmarn also entered a new era. In a com­pe­tition of urban planning ideas for a holiday complex on the sou­thern beach under the direction of the German architect Egon Eiermann, the winning design was that of Arne Jacobsen and Otto Weitling. Their concept: respect for the land­scape and careful inter­vention. In addition to the apartment buil­dings, bun­galows and three high-rise buil­dings, com­munal ele­ments were planned: das Haus des Gastes [Guest House], das Kur­mit­telhaus [The­ra­peutic Spa Centre] and a sea­water wave pool.

The archi­tects planned the complex as an open con­glo­merate of indi­vidual buil­dings. Ever­y­thing was meant to look as if it had been ran­domly dropped into the land­scape. The sober and func­tional archi­tecture was sof­tened by organic shapes. The apart­ments, which were reduced to a minimum, all had a sea view. Ori­gi­nally, no high-rise buil­dings were planned, but instead three Y‑shaped buil­dings with only four storeys. But the clients wanted more, maximum occu­pancy was the goal. Con­se­quently, the three high-rise buil­dings became the symbol of Burg­tiefe, already visible from afar. The resi­dents of Fehmarn still think they are com­pletely out of place, says Jan Dimog, himself a native of the island. Tog­ether with Hendrik Bohle, Dimog is the curator of the exhi­bition “Gesamt­kunst­werke – Archi­tektur von Arne Jacobsen und Otto Weitling in Deutschland” [Com­plete works – The Archi­tecture of Arne Jacobsen and Otto Weitling in Germany], which can be seen in the Haus des Gastes until 28 August 2022. Seven of the eight building pro­jects that the Danish architect duo planned in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s are on display there.

The Haus des Gastes first had to be made sui­table for the opening of the exhi­bition. It has been vacant for years, and demo­lition was also under dis­cussion. Reno­vation was urgently needed, says Jan Dimog, to make the lightness and ele­gance of the incon­spi­cuous building visible and to give the entire complex a centre once more. Dimog’s enthu­siasm for the archi­tecture of the holiday complex has grown ste­adily through his work on the exhi­bition and the book accom­panying it. The value of the archi­tec­tural heritage could be felt on site, which clearly distin­gu­ished Burg­tiefe from other Baltic Sea resorts. You get the best Arne Jacobsen feeling in the bun­galows, he adds. The living spaces, which are fully glazed on two sides, face the water and the light, and at 80 square metres are luxu­rious, you could say.

A good investment – that’s what the Hamburg couple Anke and Enno Schwan were also hoping for. In 2006 they bought their first apartment in the 5‑storey apartment building at the western end. 35 square metres for up to four people plus a baby – some­thing that sounds more like a tiny house than a com­for­table holiday apartment is very popular with holi­day­makers. The occu­pancy rate is high, and the guestbook is full of positive comments. Moti­vation enough for the Schwan couple to buy a second apartment. “Not a square cen­ti­metre too much and not one too little,” is how Enno Schwan enthu­si­a­sti­cally explains the concept. In every corner you notice that the archi­tects have planned well and that the limited space is not at the expense of living quality. For some time now, there has been a design manual for the appro­xi­m­ately 800 pri­vately owned apart­ments, the majority of which are rented out. The manual is to help and motivate people to renovate the apart­ments in the spirit of the ori­ginal idea. However, this only applies to the façades and com­munal areas. Inside, the apart­ments are fur­nished according to per­sonal taste; the famous “swans” and “ants” by Arne Jacobsen are usually nowhere to be seen. The apart­ments are domi­nated by middle-class uphols­tered chic in muted colours.

The popu­larity of the holiday apart­ments has remained unbroken for 50 years. The small apart­ments offer unbeatable value for money and a prime location. The apart­ments in the IFA high-rise hotels are also well booked. The sales prices of the apart­ments have sky­ro­cketed in recent years and vacant apart­ments find new owners imme­diately. Arne Jacobsen and Otto Weitling already knew 50 years ago that a holiday with a sea view is tim­eless.

The touring exhi­bition “Gesamt­kunst­werke – Archi­tektur von Arne Jacobsen und Otto Weitling in Deutschland” can be visited at the Haus des Gastes in Burg­tiefe on Fehmarn until 28.08.2022. Open daily from 11 am to 5 pm (except Monday), free admission.
Sub­se­quently, the exhi­bition can be seen from 13.09. to 14.10.22 at the Zentrum Bau­kultur Rheinland-Pfalz in Mainz.

The book accom­panying the exhi­bition is published by Arnoldsche Art Publishers and costs 38 Euros. “Gesamt­kunst­werke – Archi­tektur von Arne Jacobsen und Otto Weitling in Deutschland”. Hendrik Bohle and Jan Dimog (eds.).

The jour­nalist Jan Dimog and the architect Hendrik Bohle jointly run the platform www.thelink.berlin. There they write about topics related to travel and archi­tecture. Jan Dimog’s per­sonal account of Burg­tiefe, “Die Krone der Insel” [The Crown of the Island], is worth reading.

Accom­mo­dation tip: www.ostseenest-fehmarn.de – in the apartment Ost­seenest #2, the fur­nis­hings are also remi­niscent of Arne Jacobsen.

Text: Anke Frey, 2022

Many thanks to the town archives of Fehmarn, Jan Dimog and Hendrik Bohle for pro­viding the photos.