Apartment 1 @museum.de

When Carl Ludwig Wunderlich built the house, there was no east wing, just a ramp incorporating stairs down to the big, vaulted cellar. It was his successor, Lucas Faesch, who built the original east wing with a cellar below. But the structure we’re looking at now is a more recent one built by Adolf Friedrich Bader.

A monogram carved into the sandstone may also provide a clue to the architectural history. It was found and uncovered during the refurbishment.

Since it’s permanently installed inside this holiday apartment, it’s unfortunately not accessible. But you can see it on your screen: the initials "AB" are scored into the red sandstone, followed by the year "1860".

The carving was found on a sandstone window cornice, which was then re-used to create a doorway from the main house to the east wing. And it indicates the then owner: "AB", presumably "Adolf Bader", and "1860", the year the window was converted into a door. It was also the year when construction of the new east wing began.

For a long time, the front part of the east wing – roughly up to the first gutter – was a single-storey structure. The balustrade above wasn’t part of a conservatory, but rather marked the edge of a balcony that was originally only accessible from the main house.

And what about the bell by the door?

It may have served as a fire alarm for the entire property. Or perhaps it rang for the beginning and end of shifts worked by the employees of Bader’s cigar factory. Both are possible.