"DAS BRIKKHAUS" IS AN OLD FARMHOUSE BUILT IN 1905 AND DESIGNED BY A LOCAL ARCHITECT WHO COUPLED FUNCTIONALITY WITH BEAUTIFUL DESIGN FEATURES. THE DARK-GLAZED BRICKS EMBEDDED INTO THE FASSADE FOR INSTANCE, WERE A SIGN OF WEALTHY FARMERS, WHO MADE THEIR FORTUNE WITH SUGAR BEETS IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY - JUST ONE OF MANY DETAILS. THE THREE STOREY BUILDING WITH A FOOTPRINT OF 20 X 10 METERS (64 X 32 FEET), CONSIDERS A PRIVATELY OWNED APARTMENT AND FIVE BOUTIQUE APARTMENTS. THE ENTIRE BUILDING IS HERITAGE PROTECTED AND WAS ENTIRELY REFURBISHED, STARTING IN 2011. IT COMPLIES WITH THE NEWEST AND HIGHEST EUROPEAN STANDARDS OF LOW ENERGY / LOW CARBON EMISSION FACILITIES AND IS COMPLETELY BUILD OUT WITH NATURAL MATERIALS (E.G. WOODEN FRAMED WINDOWS, SANDSTONE AND BRICK ELEMENTS). AS THE FRONT FASSADE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE INSULATED, MAJOR INTERIOR ADJUSTMENTS HAD TO BE EXECUTED, IN ORDER TO ASSURE THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE STANDARDS MENTIONED, WHILE SECURING AN EXCELLENT INTERIOR CLIMAT. THE GROUNDFLOOR AND THE FIRST FLOOR ARE EQUIPPED WITH FLOOR HEATING SYSTEMS. 

THE AUXILIARY BUILDINGS ARE TWO BIG BARNS IN THE FRONTYARD (DREISEITENHOF - THREE BUILDING YARD) AND A BIG STORAGE BUILDING IN THE BACKYARD. THESE THREE BUILDINGS ARE STILL IN UNTOUCHED CONDITIONS SINCE MANY YEARS AND PLANNED TO BE CONVERTED INTO ADDITIONAL FACILITY SPACE OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEARS. 

THE OLD FARM MANSION IS SURROUNDED WITH A BIG FRONTYARD AND A HUGE GARDEN IN THE BACK. THE FRONTYARD, WHICH IS ABOUT 1400 SQM, IS BEING KEPT ORIGINALLY WITH A 300 YEARS OLD LAYER OF NATURAL FIELD-STONES FROM THE AREA. THE GARDEN IS PRESERVED WITH TREES, BUSHES AND A BIG MEADOW, COVERING THE GROUNDS OF ABOUT 3000 SQM. 

AS ALREADY MENTIONED, THE ENTIRE PROPERTY IS FAMILY OWNED FOR MORE THAN 800 YEARS AND WAS PASSED DOWN TO INDIVIDUAL FAMILY MEMBERS OVER THE CENTURIES. THE FARM WAS IN OPERATION FOR ABOUT 760 YEARS BY GROWING CONSTANTLY, ENDING UP TO BE THE SECOND LARGEST FARM IN THE AREA IN 1932. THE FARM YARD WAS EXPOSED TO HISTORICAL EVENTS THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE. IN THE VERY EARLY YEARS, CHARLES IV. HAD HIS SUMMER RESIDENCE, JUST A FEW KILOMETERS TO THE EAST, IN TANGERMÜNDE, FOLLOWED BY THE DEVASTATING GREAT PLAGUE THAT RAGED THROUGH EUROPE AND KLÄDEN, THE REFORMATION INTRODUCTION BY MARTIN LUTHER CHANGED THE REGION AND THE HOUSE,  THE TROUBLES, DESTRUCTIONS AND DEVASTATIONS OF 'THE THIRTY YEAR'S WAR' TOO. THE HOUSE WAS EXPOSED TO THE WELFEN AND THE HABSBURGER DYNASTY AS WELL AS TO THE PRESENCE OF THE SOLDIERS FROM NAPOLEONS ARMY IN THE BEGINNING OF THE 19TH CENTURY, AMERICAN AND RED ARMY TROOPS DURING AND RIGHT AFTER  WWII. MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, MORITZ MÜLLER LEFT THE HOUSE IN 1914 TO SERVE IN WWI, WHILE MY GRANDFATHER, OTTO HÜBENER LEFT IN 1939 TO SERVE IN WWII. ALLIED BOMBER SQUADS FLEW OVER THE YARD ON JANUARY 16, 1945 THROUGHOUT THE BOMBARDMENT OF MAGDEBURG. THE ENGULFED FIRESTORM WAS  WITNESSED BY MY GRANDMOTHER  FROM 70 KILOMETER DISTANCE, SEEING THE ENLIGHTENED BLOOD RED SKY RIGHT NEXT TO THE BELL-TOWER WHILE STANDING ON THE STREET, IN THE GATEWAY OF THE FRONTYARD. AFTER THE WAR THE FARMYARD MANSION SHELTERED MANY REFUGEES FROM THE FORMER EASTERN PROVINCES IN GERMANY FOR MANY YEARS. THE HISTORY OF THE FARMYARD WAS TRACED BACK BY MY GRANDFATHER IN THE 1960'S WHILE STUDYING THE RECORDS OF THE CHURCH BOOKS FROM THE MORE THAN THOUSAND YEARS OLD CHURCH ACROSS THE STREET.

IN 1953 THE ENTIRE FRONTYARD, WITH ITS TWO BARNS, WAS TAKEN OVER BY THE EAST GERMAN AUTHORITIES AND OPERATED BY THE LOCAL AGRICULTURE COMPANY. THE SHELL AND INTERIORS OF THE BUILDINGS WERE JUST BARELY PRESERVED. IN 1990, THE ENTIRE FARM YARD WAS RETURNED BACK TO THE FAMILY AND SHORTLY AFTER SPLIT BETWEEN TWO FAMILY MEMBERS. ONE KEPT THE YARD, WHILE THE OTHER ONE CLAIMED THE FARM LAND. THE FARM GOT DIVIDED INTO TWO, AFTER BEING COMMERCIALLY OPERATED FOR ALMOST EIGHT CENTURIES. WITHOUT SEEING A FUTURE FOR THE YARD, THE PROPERTY WAS PASSED DOWN, BY THREE GENERATIONS, TO ME WITHIN LESS THAN 20 YEARS. IN 2011, MAJOR PRIVATE INVESTMENTS WERE LAUNCHED, STARTING THE CONVERSION OF THE ENTIRE FARMHOUSE INTO A MODERN BUILDING WITH WELL PRESERVED AND REFURBISHED BUILDING EXTERIORS. IN 2016, THE DECISION WAS MADE, TURNING PARTS OF THE FACILITY INTO BOUTIQUE APARTMENTS. THE OPENING IS PLANNED FOR THE SUMMER OF 2025.

THE NAME "DAS BRIKKHAUS" IS DERIVED FROM BRICK-HOUSE AND IS REFERRING TO THE BEAUTIFUL FRONT FACADE, MADE OUT OF BRICKS. MY DAUGHTER NINA, THAT TIME 3 YEARS OLD AND ONLY ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH, SAW THE HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WAS IMMEDIATELY REMINDED TO THE BRICK-HOUSE FROM THE FAIRY TALE "THE THREE LITTLE PIGLETS". SINCE THEN IT ALWAYS WAS THE BRICK-HOUSE - A.K.A. "DAS BRIKKHAUS".

GALLERY