“Who are the faces behind the holiday accommodations on our portal?” – This is exactly what we set out to find out. With the “Traum-Häuser” campaign, we would like to give landlords the opportunity to tell their story and share what makes their holiday home special.
We first got to know Henrik Schmidtbauer and his wife Monika from the holiday home “Altes Schifferhaus” in Wieck on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. You could describe the two as two real Darß locals – even if they are not from there. However, in conversation you can immediately feel their great love for the region on the beautiful Baltic Sea coast. Perhaps it is the legacy of Monika’s grandfather, the last lighthouse keeper from Darßer Ort.
The Schmidtbauers have owned their holiday accommodation “Altes Schifferhaus” since 2010. After years of renovation, they have been renting it out to holidaymakers since the beginning of 2015. They also run a tea room and offer sea kayaking tours. The listed half-timbered house, which is around 240 years old, is situated in a large garden with old fruit trees. Up to eight people can enjoy their holiday in four bedrooms and a spacious living area of 240 m². Awarded five stars by the DTV, the Schifferhaus scores high with its extensive and ecological renovation. Only sustainable, biologically safe, and ecological building materials were used. The compartments were filled with straw-wrapped clay beams, and the walls and ceilings were plastered with clay.
Excerpt of the interview with Henrik Schmidtbauer:
Your holiday home is located on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. Why should you spend your vacation there?
The most important thing: rest. Although the peninsula is a popular holiday region, it is not overcrowded here, and everyone can find their place. Arrive and take a deep breath. Just slow down, and forget the stressful everyday life. A real highlight are the Bodden waters – or the “lagoons of the Baltic Sea”. They are simply gorgeous. There are also the idyllic, small Boddendörfer, which still show life here quite authentically. And, of course, the great beaches with their fine sand.
When is the best travel time for a holiday in your region?
Actually there aren’t any. Every season has its particular charm. The typical main travel time is, of course, in summer, when you can also swim in the sea. It can get pretty crowded here. If you don’t care for crowds, you should come in the off-season. In spring, for example, when everything is sprouting, and the cranes come back from the south. Or in autumn. Especially in November, we that notice increasingly more people from Hamburg, Rostock, and other north German cities are drawn to nature and simply want to take a deep breath for a weekend. It works really well here.
What makes your “Altes Schifferhaus” so special? Why should people book with you?
Our Schifferhaus has a special charm. Through the old half-timbering, the large rooms, and the stylish furnishings. We find it really exciting to combine the old with the new. This is a common theme in our lives – and also our home. When we renovated back then, everyone thought we were crazy for not dividing the large living space into two or three holiday apartments. But we didn’t want that. That would have destroyed the soul of the house. Now our guests have plenty of space: 240 m², where they can really breathe deeply.
Sustainability is also important to you when it comes to your holiday home. What have you done to make your accommodation as “green” as possible?
Instead of discarding the old materials, we decided to reuse the very building materials that have supported the house for many years. So everything that came out of the house came back in. For example, we have produced over 4,000 bricks from clay ourselves. For this I simply built a template out of wood, mixed the clay with water, poured it into the mould, and let it dry. I then stacked the stones, let them air out well, and then installed them again. That was actually really fun.
Would you say there is a recipe for your success?
Authenticity. Just be who you are. Everything else is useless anyway because the guests notice it straightaway. And besides, it’s so much more relaxed. We put all our heart and soul into our holiday home. And that is exactly what we want to pass on to our guests. We are quite grateful that people choose to vacation with us. That’s why appreciative and open communication is important to us.
What are 3 things you should definitely do on a vacation with you?
- The sunrise with a view of the Bodden: Here you can witness the moment when nature awakens so slowly.
- A sailing trip with a Zeesboot. These are traditional fishing vessels of the Bodden waters.
- The crane rest: In autumn tens of thousands of cranes fly in on their way south, because in the shallow Bodden waters, the lagoons of the Baltic Sea they find ideal conditions for a rest.
You can find the complete interview in excerpts in our Urlaubsmagazin and our Vermieter Magazin.
Urlaubsmagazin: https://www.traum-ferienwohnungen.de/urlaubsmagazin/traum-haeuser-altes-schifferhaus-schmidtbauer/
Vermieter-Magazin: https://www.traum-ferienwohnungen.de/vermieter-magazin/traum-haeuser-altes-schifferhaus/
Vacation home “Altes Schifferhaus”: https://www.traum-ferienwohnungen.de/101619/
