Ithe horizon on the edge of the eyes and waves in the heart. Tim Wittenbecher is a sentinel of the seas. He saves abandoned lighthouses, deserted by the keepers since the automation of the profession, and breathes new life into them. Re-enchanting the old walls of these remote places, he creates an exclusive suite, equipped apartments and a hotel in Germany, Spain and Italy. At night, the waves sparkle with the beam of light guiding sailors and cradling dreams.
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Tim grew up on the banks of the Elbe in Hamburg, where as a child he would look at a tower marking the path of ships: “Lighthouses exude a romanticism that touches me as much as the elements surrounding them. I am not the only one who is sensitive to it. Lighthouses feed the collective imagination. They have something unique that invites introspection and confidences. Our guest books are like personal diaries.”
Tim’s latest “rescue”: the Faro Punta Imperatore, on the island of Ischia in Italy. © DR
His adventure began in 2007 after reading a few lines in the press. In Usedom (a German island in the Baltic Sea), a mayor was looking for a buyer for his town’s lighthouse and was preparing, as a last resort, to publish an ad on eBay. He didn’t have time. Tim and his wife rushed to visit the place. They fell in love with it immediately. They bought the building for 80,000 euros and […] Read more
