Wolfgang Schewe and the Boutique Hotel Nixe on Rügen

From engineer and ice pioneer to Binz's successful hotelier

Published: March 18, 2025

Wolfgang Schewe stands on the roof of the Hotel am Meer on the island of Rügen and looks out over the Baltic Sea.

A summer morning on the beach promenade, a breeze is blowing across the Baltic Sea, mice are squawking and Wolfgang Schewe is walking to work at the Hotel Am Meer. It is his hotel. He opened it in 1995, even though he was an engineer, not a hotelier, and earned his money as an ice cream wholesaler. Nevertheless, he invested in a hotel. Because Schewe had understood one thing: In pioneering times, you can't be timid. You have to follow your gut instinct.

Wolfgang Schewe with daughter Johanna in the restaurant of the Hotel am Meer with a coffee and both laughing.

Wolfgang Schewe and the next generation

His gut feeling and the development

It was a big project, with 60 rooms, and Schewe says that he slept badly at the time. Deep down, however, he always knew that he would make it. And at the latest when he saw how the first guests felt, it was finally clear to him: he was on the right track.

A room from the inside at the Hotel am Meer in Binz - bed, seating with a view of the promenade

For the good and the beautiful

View into the rooms of the "Hotel Am Meer"

Schewe was and is passionate about his work. Sometimes, during a conversation, he literally runs his fingers over the tabletop, as if something inside him is delighted by the fine grain of the wood.

He always had a special sense for spaces, furniture and materials. But then he graduated in engineering, left the former GDR for political reasons and only returned to his home island of Rügen in 1990.

Fisherman's beach next to the village of Binz on Rügen with plants and stones - the view of the water
The hotelier loves the quiet corners of Binz. The fishing beach for example
The "Nixe" house nestles romantically behind the dune grass in Binz at sunset.
The "Nixe" ducks romantically behind the dune grass in Binz.
The beach and promenade of Binz from the air with the pier and part of the Baltic Sea at sunrise
Unmissably beautiful, the beach and the promenade with the Binzer pier on Rügen

In Binz, Schewe opened a second hotel in 2018: the Boutique Hotel Nixe with a fine spa and first-class restaurant, which he opened in a listed Art Nouveau villa. It is located where the white Binzer Bäder architecture shines brightest: on the beach promenade. Wolfgang Schewe likes the beach promenade, but also the quiet corners of Binz. The fishing beach. The beech forest that begins there and stretches up the coast. But his favorite place is the Blue Moon Lounge, right at the top of the „Hotel Am Meer“, a place for looking outwards and inwards. Just as it should be for a pioneer.

Worth seeing

in Binz on Rügen

28 results

  • © Bernhard Franke

    Guest House Astrids Beach Shell

    • Margaretenstr., 18609 Binz

    It is a cozy, small, well-kept guesthouse, located behind the Hotel Villa Schwanebeck with small and friendly rooms, ideal as a single or very affordable double room.

    Read more: "Guest House Astrids Beach Shell"
  • © TMV/Tiemann

    Hotel Four Seasons Binz

    • Zeppelinstraße, 18609 Binz

    The most important data at a glance: 76 hotel rooms and suites, 42 apartments- centrally located in the historic center of Binz, only 100 meters to the beach, three restaurants (one of which is a star restaurant), terrace cafe & hotel bar, 710 sqm wellness: swimming pool, sauna area, beauty and fitness area.

    Read more: "Hotel Four Seasons Binz"
  • Suite Hotel Binz exterior view, © Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Binz GmbH

    Suite Hotel Binz

    • Zeppelinstraße, 18609 Binz

    The Suite Hotel Binz offers especially for families a wide range of sports, wellness and enjoyment in the immediate vicinity of the Baltic Sea.

    Read more: "Suite Hotel Binz"
  • © www.binz-ferienhaus.de

    Vacation home Binz

    • Rabenstrasse, 18609 Binz

    Beachfront, quietly located vacation home for 6 people in the Baltic resort Binz on the Island of Rügen. This house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen-living room, terrace and balcony and is perfect for a family vacation.

    Read more: "Vacation home Binz"
  • © Tourismuszentrale Rügen

    Spa park Binz

    • Heinrich-Heine-Straße, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    A real seaside resort also has a spa park where guests can stroll and find diversion.

    Read more: "Spa park Binz"
  • © Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade

    Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade

    • Hauptstrasse, 18609 Binz

    Spend relaxing vacations with Italian hospitality in the spacious rooms and apartments not far from the pier of Binz. Most of them are located on the lake side, have a balcony and allow you to enjoy a fantastic view of the Baltic Sea.

    Read more: "Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade"
  • Exterior view Hotel Merkur, © TMV

    Hotel Merkur and Villa Asta

    • Schillerstraße, 18609 Binz

    Hotel Merkur was built in the style of classic resort architecture at the turn of the century.

    Read more: "Hotel Merkur and Villa Asta"
  • © TMV/Gohlke

    Park of the Senses at Schmachter Lake

    • Freely accessible at any time
    • 18609 Binz

    Schmachter See is a lake near Binz on the island of Rügen and part of the Schmachter See and Fangerien nature reserve. Along the reed-fringed shore of Schmachter See meanders the Park of the Senses.

    Read more: "Park of the Senses at Schmachter Lake"
  • Imperial

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    Your family-run hotel to make you feel at home. Furnished in the tasteful style of resort architecture - right by the sea - in a central yet quiet location.

    Read more: "Imperial"
  • Genusswerkstatt Binz - restaurant on the 5th floor of the Rugard Thermal Strandhotel, © Hotel Arkona Dr. Hutter eK

    Pleasure workshop Binz

    • Temporarily closed
    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Binz

    Enjoy with sea view on the Island of Rügen. Gourmet chef Robert Schindler inspires in his Genusswerkstatt with an exquisite Nordic-seasonal cuisine on the 5th floor of the Rugard Thermal Strandhotel with a view of the sea and the chalk coast.

    Read more: "Pleasure workshop Binz"
  • © Seehotel BINZ-THERME Rügen

    Dorint Seehotel BINZ-THERME Rügen

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Binz

    Celebrate bathing culture. Being carried by the water, almost like in the Dead Sea. Enjoy a unique treasure: healing thermal brine springs from 300 to 1,222 meters deep, a fabulous 220 million years old and comfortably warm. Directly behind the dunes and the sea you will find comfortable rooms, suites and apartments, an exclusive wellness, beauty and sauna world, first-class gastronomy, kids club, playground ...

    Read more: "Dorint Seehotel BINZ-THERME Rügen"
  • © VELA Hotels AG

    Loev Hotel Rügen

    • Hauptstr., 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    The LOEV Hotel Rügen is a house of the VELA Hotels AG, in an excellent location in the middle of the old town center of Binz, only 50m away from the beach and the pier. Look forward to elegant and modern equipped rooms, a cocktail bar & a brasserie with culinary delights as well as the LOEV Spa for dreamlike pampering moments!

    Read more: "Loev Hotel Rügen"
  • © Rugard Strandhotel

    Rugard Strandhotel

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Binz

    Your first-class private hotel directly on the beach promenade in the Baltic resort of Binz offers the highest comfort, the most pleasant atmosphere and top service.

    Read more: "Rugard Strandhotel"

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