Little big worlds

Dense beech groves too, with their interplay of springtime and autumnal foliage, are part of the attraction of this vibrant land­scape. Every so often the narrow-gauge railway “Rasender Roland” (Rushing Roland) puffs through, an attraction in itself. Rügen is far too big to resemble Lum­merland from the German children’s novel Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver . Nevert­heless, tra­velling across the Rügen cau­seway, the new high bridge or on the ferry from Stahl­brode to Glewitz, daily cares get left behind and there is a sense of being able to com­pletely relax, and refocus. Every holiday is, after all, some­thing of a journey of dis­covery, even if it is only one of self-dis­covery.

The exciting diversity of Rügen cer­tainly has some­thing to do with this. But where to strike camp for such an expe­dition, and what sort of accom­mo­dation would best suit the purpose? An old guest house or a classy hotel with timber bal­conies in the late 19th century seaside archi­tec­tural style pre­do­minant in num­erous coastal resorts, or a con­verted fisherman’s cottage, if any are still to be found? The summer-long buzz of activity at sandy beaches and cliffs might encourage some to find a rural retreat inland. So why not stay in the agri­cul­tural heartland, where fields and meadows, tree-lined avenues and manor houses dot the land­scape. The old estate of Gut Mauritz in Zicker on the Zudar is just such a place, about 40 minutes’ drive from Stralsund. There is also a bus service on weekdays from the village square which also serves many children as a school bus. This strip of land is by no means deserted, even though farming is not as pre­valent here as it once was, and the old manor houses and their out­buil­dings no longer serve their ori­ginal purpose. At Gut Mauritz the buil­dings have been lovingly res­tored and filled with holiday apart­ments. The village-like structure of the place can still be detected or rather has been res­tored: vast gardens between the former resi­dence and the farm buil­dings, the wide sur­rounding land­scape, the view over the nearby bays of Schoritz Wiek, the Baltic, a scatter of houses and the wide coun­tryside.

This once highly pro­ductive farm left behind a dra­matic emp­tiness in its out­buil­dings, with their large deep rooms, which Andreas Breck­woldt and Ulrike Flock have skilfully refur­bished with large apart­ments that have gene­rously high living spaces sui­table equally for a multi-gene­ra­tional holiday, a big get-tog­ether or a Yoga course. In current par­lance, such inno­vative resi­dential buil­dings are known as cluster apart­ments. But there are also small units for single people or couples. Large expanses of windows, generous ter­races and bal­conies give sweeping views out into the wide world and an insight into the everyday dramas of village life – a dog pouncing on a neighbour’s cockerel for ins­tance.

All apart­ments come with access to a joint sauna and parking area for bicycles which, inci­den­tally, can be hired out, along with other mobility options. These vehicles extend the field of action around the estate, and are also useful for trips to the beach or for slowly dis­co­vering the island worlds. All this makes a granary that goes by the name of Korn­speicher Mauritz an ideal base for your journey of dis­covery.

Olaf Bartels, born in 1959, is and archi­tec­tural his­torian and critic. His publi­ca­tions include fea­tures in Bauwelt, Bau­meister and the Deutsche Bau­zeitung. He carries out research and tea­ching on archi­tecture and the history of urban planning. He lives in Hamburg and Berlin.

Picture credits: Ludger Paf­frath, Andreas Breck­woldt

The house

Apartment Korn­speicher Mauritz

Apartment Korn­speicher Mauritz

Add to my favourites

Between corn­fields, pad­docks, and the bay, to the south-east of the holiday island of Rügen, lies the Korn­speicher Mauritz. This old granary, which was formerly part of a three-sided farm, has been thoughtfully moder­nised.

⟶