Archive

W is for wakened by a kiss – Waren Water Tower

You just can’t help thinking of Rapunzel the first time you see this building. That said, this water tower was designed at the end of the 19th century for purely functional purposes.

by Ulrich Knoll in October 2017

Nevert­heless, this 35 meter high structure in a clearing in the Nes­selberg in Waren an der Müritz does have a distinctly whim­sical air. Built in brick with a classic conical roof with slate cladding, the addition of a stair tower and striking half-tim­bering at the top will awaken fairytale asso­cia­tions in most observers well before they set foot in it. Indeed, guests are not dis­ap­pointed. Inside the Waren water tower, there are plenty more fea­tures which combine to ensure that their holiday is an all-round success.

Waren Water Tower is fan­tastic at any time of year. Even in winter it holds a special enchantment (Photo left hand side: © BEWAHREN Feri­enhaus eG). Guests will find ample space here in four entirely separate apart­ments.

The Waren Water Tower had a che­quered history spanning many decades before becoming a liveable indus­trial monument for fans of archi­tecture and tou­rists alike. Built in 1897 to general ridicule, burned down in 1900 and re-erected shortly after­wards, work began to renovate the water tower once more in 1953 to repair war damage, only for it to be decom­mis­sioned ten years later. It remained unoc­cupied for around two decades from the beginning of the 1990s. It was not until 2011 that it found its new owners who dis­co­vered it in a news­paper adver­ti­sement, purchased it and breathed new life into it. This was made pos­sible by the foun­dation of a coope­rative of ori­gi­nally six founder members. They had stood out from all other pro­s­pective purchasers because, by letting it out and opening it up annually on National Monu­ments Day, they would be keeping it open to the general public. Moreover, their archi­tec­tural concept, devised in close col­la­bo­ration with the national monu­ments pre­ser­vation aut­hority, was ideally in keeping with the cha­racter of the monument. The expe­rience enjoyed by guests to the four quite dif­ferent apart­ments in this five-storey building today is the­r­efore the result of the work of many deter­mined minds and hands over several years.

A photo taken in 2011 shows the phase after the upgrading of the ori­ginal sus­pended cei­lings and before the reno­vation of the stair tower (in the back­ground). Photo: © BEWAHREN Feri­enhaus eG

The stairwell had to be com­pletely gutted and rebuilt. Photo credits: © BEWAHREN Feri­enhaus eG

Parts of the water tank which con­tained 175 cubic metres have, since the con­version, formed the ceiling of the 2nd storey and serve as seating sur­rounding the storey above it. The rema­inder of the tank was dis­mantled in situ into 60 x 60 cm parts. Guests will dis­cover various parts of it as wall, lamp or deco­rative fea­tures in the apart­ments or in the garden. Some space-forming supply and outlet pipes have also remained intact with their ori­ginal function still evident. Complex impro­ve­ments had to be made before the stairwell could be opened for use, in order to meet current safety requi­re­ments. To meet the requi­re­ments for a second emer­gency escape route, small bal­conies were built onto the 1st and 2nd storeys which now provide a won­derful private expe­rience of the sur­rounding woodland clearing. On the ground floor a terrace, and on the top floor an existing cir­cular walkway give the same effect. Last but not least all windows have been rein­forced, which was also necessary to comply with regu­la­tions due to the age of the building, and was cor­re­spon­dingly expensive.

All apart­ments have an outdoor area, either a terrace, balcony or cir­cular gallery. The com­munal garden is open to everyone. Photo: © Jan Kulke.

From the upper storeys you feel like you are flying with the birds, and very close to nature in this woodland clearing. Photo: © Jan Kulke

Round isn’t easy, but it is beau­tiful

The unusual struc­tural shape posed par­ti­cular archi­tec­tural chal­lenges when it came to interior fix­tures and fit­tings. Some aspects that are perhaps not quite so imme­diately apparent to holiday guests pre­sented con­siderable pro­blems. The heating, for ins­tance, had people racking their brains for a long time before being even­tually resolved by skirting heating which not only ideally staves off the incoming cold but is also visually unob­trusive and can be adapted to the shape of the room. The same applies to all built-in fur­niture, storage units or integral seating: ever­y­thing had to fit the shape of the tower and be made to measure. Even the curtain poles, such as those on the ground floor, had to slot in – “form follows form”, so to speak. It is these details – whether they are con­sciously or uncon­sciously noticed – that effec­tively round off the overall impression for tem­porary resi­dents. The rooms are airy, har­mo­nious, and leave space for countless his­toric struc­tural fea­tures. For that reason alone, a stay in the water tower is a unique expe­rience. The only excep­tions are the sanitary fit­tings which have been set into the apart­ments as stand-alone cubes and provide a distinctive coun­ter­point by their shape alone.

Details such as round curtain poles or built-in fur­niture such as the platform shown here, which also serves as storage space, can be found all over the tower. Photo: © Jan Kulke

In the Güstrow apartment, the his­to­rical function is par­ti­cu­larly apparent. The former wall bra­ckets and the floor of the water tank itself are visible. Sleeping under it on the sleep gallery is an unfor­gettable expe­rience. Photo: © Jan Kulke.

Round and snug – this and the next photo show the ground-floor Hagenow apartment as an example. Photos: © Jan Kulke

The ground-floor kitchen has been built around the pre­served water pipe, in the most literal sense of the words, pre­serving the authen­ticity of the water tower. Photo: © Jan Kulke

The upper edge of the water tank has been retained in the Pankow apartment as cir­cu­lating seating and is the­r­efore omni­present. Photo: © Jan Kulke

Ele­ments of the par­tially-dis­mantled water tank are to be found all over the pro­perty, such as in this wall lamp. Photo: © Jan Kulke

A special ope­rator model: the coope­rative

It took more than 2,000 working hours in total before Waren Water Tower could be opened in its current form at Whitsun in 2011. The objective of the coope­rative, which now boasts 39 members, has never been about maxi­mising profit but rather pre­serving the sub­s­tance of the building which also permits members to enjoy affordable holidays long term. This, indeed was one of the ori­ginal objec­tives. As the ori­ginal “desi­rable pro­perty” has now been booked out on more than 200 days in the year and repayment of the loans is a rea­listic pro­spect, the asso­ciates are already con­sidering further pro­perties – pre­ferably by the sea, in the moun­tains and in the south”.

Part of the coope­rative. 39 members now have high hopes. Photo: © Jan Kulke

But don’t worry: even if such plans should come to fruition, the ope­rators will con­tinue to take good care of their tower as they have done since its opening. This too is a special quality of the coope­rative: the members meet regardless of their own holidays, on site, twice a year for a major vol­unteer effort. Then, every detail is scru­ti­nised and the tower as well as the garden spruced up. One thing you notice when you stay there is how well the ori­ginal quality is pre­served. Even the kitchen knives are always kept sharp. Many details, the­r­efore, to delight every guest! The real owners of the water tower are, by the way, the jackdaws who have had a small colony there for many gene­ra­tions. In 2012, they were lovingly and very carefully accom­mo­dated in new outside nesting boxes. So they will remain for a very long time to come, we hope, tog­ether with wood pigeons, wrens, black­birds, cuckoos, chiff-chaffs, woodpe­ckers and chaf­finches, the secret sove­reigns of this little woodland clearing upon which the water tower stands. But worry not: they co-exist happily with the holiday guests and Rapunzel would defi­nitely have loved them too!

The new outdoor jackdaw bun­galows. Photo credits: © BEWAHREN Feri­enhaus eG)

For anyone who wants to use the water tower as a base for an active holiday, the nearby Feisneck pro­vides won­derful natural bathing. Waren town centre is very easy to reach from the Nes­selberg. Water­sports are available all over the lake area, fresh fish can be had from the Müritz­fi­scher freshwater fisheries. For those who just like to con­tem­plate the peace and tran­quillity of nature, there is the national park nearby waiting to be dis­co­vered, and bikes for hire to get around on.

Natural beauty is all around – whether at Feisneck, Müritz or in the national park – and within easy reach. See next photos © BEWAHREN Feri­enhaus eG

---

by Ulrich Stefan Knoll, October 2017

The house