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[102] Retired mothers and artists

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Pensions – landladies and artists

At the end of the Romantic period, Hirsau experienced an unexpected boom in tourism. The rising middle classes appreciated the natural surroundings, the fresh air of the northern Black Forest, and the new railway lines. So-called “pensions-mütter” (landladies) provided good accommodation, pleasant stays, and artistic development...

The former Majersche guesthouse

Two unmarried daughters, Emilie and Julie, are considered to be Hirsau´s first guesthouse mothers. They ran a guesthouse on the monastery grounds that their parents had already been operating. The first spa guest was Georg Ebers, a student from Berlin. He arrived in 1860 and was full of praise for the service and atmosphere. Freed from joint pain, he later acquired the longest papyrus of medical content, measuring 18 meters, from a tomb robber as an Egyptologist. In the middle of the venerable monastery complex next to the clock tower, guests enjoyed the special atmosphere, and soon painters and art lovers began to gather there. In 1903, the well-known paper cut artist Luise Walther stayed here. She created filigree portraits of Swabian personalities. After his trading company went bankrupt, Paul Staelin and his wife Antonie set up a “summer school” in the building. While she entertained music and art lovers, he pursued his hobby of painting. After his death, she taught girls how to cook.

Villa Waldeck and Villa Luise

Rail connections to Stuttgart in 1872 and Pforzheim in 1874 boosted tourism to such an extent that more accommodation was needed. Marie Mayr was the first to respond in 1877 with a new building, Villa Waldeck. In 1880, merchant Karl Wintgens also built a guesthouse and named it Villa Luise after his wife´s first name. This provided a livelihood for his two unmarried daughters, Anna and Frieda. They successfully ran the house until they were well into old age.

Wiesenweg – Villenweg – Uhlandstraße

Around 1900, the widow of a professor moved to Hirsau and bought a house to set up guest rooms for spa visitors. She named it after the legendary founder of the first abbey in the town: Villa Helizena. This building on Uhlandstraße will still be standing in 2025. Further ahead was Villa Vogler. “Distinguished” people found a residential area here that suited them.
The monastery town was a popular retirement destination, for example for theologians. No fewer than ten of them, or their widows, chose to live here. Gradually, new buildings and extensions to restaurants created many guest rooms, so that by 1903 well over half of the spa guests found accommodation in seven inns. Visitors from Germany and abroad appreciated the good Black Forest air and the tranquility of the spa gardens. In 1913,
Hirsau built the spa gardens, which are still charming and worth seeing today, based on designs by the well-known Stuttgart garden architect Albert Lilienfein and named after Queen Charlotte.