Villa Rugen

The Villa
In 1861 the Rappard Family’s villa was built on the south slope of Kleiner Rugen. The building, a country-house in the style of the founding years of the modern German Empire, offered an enchanting refuge during the summer months. In autumn, people set out on expeditions to Italy or Germany, only returning to the «Dragon’s Eye» or the «Rugenvilla», as their home was affectionally called, in spring. This residence was the family’s quiet centre. Much time was spent in the open; everybody pursuing their own routine; Clara von Rappard daily drew, played the piano, went for walks and read novels, non-fiction, daily papers and went for visits.

Thanks to the contacts that Conrad von Rappard also kept up in his exile, many prominent visitors turned up: politicians, businessmen, artists, scientists and liberal members of nobility. Among them were Elisabeth of Prussia, Hermann von Helmholtz, Clara Schumann, Heinrich Gerhardt, the Siemens Family, General von Winterfeld, the successor to the throne Friederich and wife, Adolf Menzel, Prince Alexander, Carl Gussow, Hermann Grimm and wife and the Carl Hilty Family, as well as politically like minded people.

In 1872 the house was altered and made over to Clara von Rappard. To the oriel was added a compact tower, containing the young artist’s study and studio. The rooms were furnished in a classical vein. In 1883 mother and daughter again greatly altered the drawing-room, the living-room and the study. They painted the walls with motifs from their travels: the Parthenon, the Bay of Capri, the Aegean Sea, the Achmedie Mosque, framed by Pompeian pillars, garlanded with flowers. The oriel-room in the tower was decorated with oriental fabrics and copies of antique reliefs. The studio received a starry sky. All these furnishings and designs were much praised by the famous painter Adolf Menzel, who visited the Bernese Oberland and the Rappards in 1885.

From 1896 onwards Albertine and Clara von Rappard had to let parts of the villa to guests for financial reasons. After their demise relatives lived in the house. In 1944 the contents of the house were up for public auction; the villa went to the Canton of Bern. In the 1960’s it was pulled down.