Schwarzatal, Sommerfrische Haus Bräutigam

Many of the beautiful half-timbered houses in Schwarzatal with their porches and outdoor seating areas, built for the guests of the Sommerfrische, are now empty. They bear witness to the former and largely past heyday of tourism and often present a sad sight today. At the same time, they raise the question of how to deal with the continuation and reinterpretation of centuries-old tradition.

But the Sommerfrische houses are not forgotten! A guesthouse built in 1907 by the client and host Lydia Bräutigam in Schwarzburg was saved from demolition thanks to many attentive architecture enthusiasts, in order to be used flexibly and collectively in the future. It is too small for a hotel, and too large for a single family. This architecture is ideal for temporary work and living for guests and association members from the region and beyond. This new Sommerfrische in Schwarzburg is creating a new form of hospitality between city and countryside.

For the time being, the association Zukunftswerkstatt Schwarzatal e. V. took over the vacant house from the former owner. In 2018, the association asked a group of scientific staff members from the Chair of Design and Housing Construction at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, who were staying in the valley for a study project, to give their assessment of the condition of the house. This quickly led to an initiative by the architects Jessica Christoph, Christine Dörner, Till Hoffmann and Henning Michelsen, who developed a perspective for the house as part of the IBA Thuringia. In 2019, the association Haus Bräutigam was founded from the initiative, which now has 15 members. That same year, Haus Bräutigam became an IBA project.

In 2020, the house and property were transferred to the special fund StadtLand Thuringia, which was founded by the IBA Thuringia with the trias foundation. The association Haus Bräutigam e. V. then signed a 99-year lease agreement with the foundation. One of the driving forces for the association members was the foundation's focus on the common good. The proceeds from the lease payments for the house are being used for new initiatives in Thuringia that work in a similar open and community-building way as the association.

The house is intended to be put into use for at least another 100 years with manageable effort, necessary technical equipment, and with the help of funding and a lot of volunteer work. At the same time, the association is testing a new form of hospitality, where both individual stays and collaborative work on various issues are possible.

The association reflects the diversity of topics, questions and discussions on renovation culture and new hospitality in a magazine series that reports on the collectively organized, resource-saving transformation.

The IBA project Sommerfrische Haus Bräutigam is part of the IBA project family in Schwarzatal.