Hotels
Kranich Museum & Hotel Time out in a historic manor house
© Philipp Obkircher
In all city dwellers, no matter how enthusiastic they are about the many possibilities their city has to offer, there is always a quiet longing for peace and nature. And so we are always drawn to places where you can find both. Like at the Kranich Museum & Hotel in Hessenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, not far from the Baltic Sea.
It's a grey autumn day as we drive along the road to the old manor house. A light mist lies over the meadows around the house, and there is something almost mystical about it as we get out of the car and walk up the few steps to the house's entrance.
"Ich bin ein Kranich" (I am a crane) is written in large, bright letters above the door of the hotel, which also houses a museum on one of its three floors. The art on display (some of which fills the entire room) comes from international artists who have been invited by the owner and art historian Dr Bettina Klein as artists-in-residence since 2011.
In performative or installative works, they have engaged in dialogue with the estate and its history, the surrounding landscape and, of course, the cranes that give it its name. The resulting works became part of the collection, not only inside but also in the estate's park.
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The interest in art and a keen sense of architecture are visible throughout the house. The historical features have been carefully preserved and combined with the necessary comfort in a highly charming way. Cleverly placed lighting creates beautiful effects and cosiness.
The surrounding nature can also be found everywhere in the house: a few fresh meadow flowers here, a basket of fresh apples there, and freshly made jam and homemade fruit juice on a small table to take home. - Pure country life.
The rooms were designed by New York artist and architect Alex Schweder, whose work has already been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Britain and the Architecture Biennale in Venice. He created an architectural gem from a dilapidated ruin, in which the unfinished and the processual are part of the refurbishment concept.
In addition to six individually designed hotel rooms on the ground floor of the manor house with antiques, cast-iron stoves and free-standing bathtubs, two spacious studio flats with their own kitchen have recently been added on the top floor. One of these will be our comfortable home during our stay of several days.
The flats are also perfect for extended stays or workations. Just like the garden house with a view of the park for up to six people or the attic of the former smithy, surrounded by flowerbeds and a herb garden, for up to four people.
There is a sauna in the vaulted cellar. The optional breakfast is served in the room, and from next spring, the Kranich Café on the estate grounds will also be open again. Otherwise, there is plenty of nature here: idyllic old trees, horses in the meadows and, from March to April and September to October, the eponymous cranes in the nearby Bodden landscape.
For dinner, it's best to head to Ribnitz-Damgarten to the De Zees restaurant - the matjes there is a speciality. The Saaler Bodden beach is two kilometres away, and one of the most beautiful beaches near Ahrenshoop is 35 minutes away. With their tranquil streets, old houses and small harbours, the villages of Born and Wieck have retained much of their originality and are well worth a visit.
But if you are looking for peace and nature, book a room with a kitchen, pack a few supplies along with all the books that have been waiting to be read for months and let yourself be enchanted by the Kranich Museum & Hotel and the surrounding nature.
