How it all began...
Harm Wietjes (1883 - 1966) from Strackholt and his wife, Antje Wietjes, née Lottmann from Baltrum, began their career in gastronomy in 1921 with a Strandhalle, or café, on the beach on the island of Baltrum. They had five children, who each had to get stuck in – baking cakes, selling newspapers on the beach, cooking and serving. The accommodation available for the seven family members became too small. Thus the main building of the Strandhotel Wietjes was built. In 1923 it was a 1½-storey building, no bigger than an average new family home, with only a few rooms for rent. The number of guests on the island at that time was also very low.
In the 1930s, visitor numbers to the north German island increased. This prompted Harm Wietjes to carry out the first large conversion in 1938. The surface area of the main building was increased threefold and a two-storey hotel emerged, which also contained a ballroom-type flat-roof extension, stretching around 30 m to the north, in the direction of the beach.
In 1957, the successor and father of the current owner, Mr. Hermann Wietjes (1915- 2001), extended the ballroom extension by a semi-circular, pavilion-style panorama restaurant area.
The last large conversion so far was carried out in 1975. With the exception of the restaurant and the business area, the entire hotel, three storeys high, was torn down and rebuilt. Bathrooms were added to each room and now almost all rooms have balconies facing the sea or the sun. Even on the top floors, the rooms have folding balconies that provide a breathtaking panoramic view. A balcony experience, eye to eye with the seagulls!
In 2004/2005, the third hotelier generation, Annette and Ricklef Wietjes, partially re-partitioned and comprehensively renovated the public areas of the hotel that were still in their former condition: restaurant, conference and recreational rooms and the office. This means that you will always feel great here, now and in the future, in the only Baltrum hotel situated directly by the sea.
