The word beach chair comes very far from doing justice to the legendary Strandkorb, which is as much a part of German seaside holiday memories as sandcastles and shrimps. It is much more than just a chair on German beaches the Strandkorb (beach basket) is the holidaymakers’ miniature home away from home, their private refuge, not only from the wind but also from the world around them; a place where they can relax and be themselves and where their holiday is really a holiday.
Schleswig-Holstein’s striking Baltic beaches would be unthinkable without the Strandkorb, which has become a hallmark of seaside holidays in Germany all over the world. Its invention in the 19th century was prompted by the rheumatism of an old lady named Elfriede Maltzahn. Despite her illness she was determined to enjoy a holiday break on the Baltic Sea, and so she commissioned the Bartelmann company, basketmakers to the Imperial German Court, to invent a seat that would protect her from the wind on the beach. The resulting Strandstuhl (beach chair) was an immediate hit with the seaside holidaymakers, and in 1883 the Bartelmann family set up the world’s first Strandkorb rental service. Since then these oversized basket chairs with their protective canopies haven’t changed all that much the original design was perfect and couldn’t really be improved. In the Strandkorb you can rest, doze and listen to the music of the waves.
It provides protection from the wind and the sun, and sometimes also from the unwanted gaze of other holidaymakers. Many couples have also experienced unforgettably romantic moments in a Strandkorb after sundown with a bottle of wine. A Strandkorb is wonderful in every weather, effuses Stephan Muuss from Niendorf on the Baltic Sea, president of the State Strandkorb Rental Association in Schleswig- Holstein. According to Muuss there were precisely 19,958 of the chairs on the state’s beaches at the last count in 2002. During the holiday season they are rented to holidaymakers by the association’s 163 members throughout the state.
The cosy experience of a Strandkorb is to be had for between 6.50 and 9 euros a day or from 30 to 45 euros for a full week, with prices varying depending on the region and the individual location. The chairs are most expensive in the more exclusive resorts like Grömitz and Timmendorfer Strand, explains Muuss. Nowadays, however, the renters also offer additional serices, from rental of toys and wool blankets to drinks services.
The classic Strandkorb is painted white or varnished, with blue-and-white or redand- white striped upholstery and space for two. The chairs on the Baltic Sea are traditionally more rounded, says Stephan Muuss. A few years ago new three-seater family chairs and children’s chairs were also introduced. The chairs are still made and repaired almost entirely by hand, only the materials have changed over the years. Nowadays long-lasting plastic chairs have almost entirely replaced the traditional wikker basket constructions.
Although the German Strandkorb is very popular with visitors from abroad the practical has not become established on beaches in other countries. It remains a typically German beach institution, with a proud history going back over 120 years.
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