Wilhelmshöhe Guesthouse in Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój

At ul. Ludwika Hirszfelda 15, you will find one of the most extraordinary buildings in Malinnik (Herischdorf), a village annexed to Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój (Bad Warmbrunn) in 1941. Before the war, Ludwig Raschdau, an imperial envoy, owned two remarkable buildings situated on a small hill, now in ruins. Ludwig lived in the lower villa, accessible from ul. PCK 12, while the second one, featuring a tower, housed the Wilhelmshöhe guesthouse with a restaurant.

View of the Wilhelmshöhe villas from ul. Ludwika Hirszfelda / Photo by Marta Maćkowiak

Ludwig Rashdau aka Müller

Ludwig Raschdau, born Louis Alfred on September 29, 1849, into a bourgeois family in Rybnik was the son of Eduard Muller from Puttbus in Rugia and Maria née Brus from Bad Landeck, present-day Lądek Zdrój.

Ludwig was an incredibly ambitious individual. He studied law and oriental languages in Wrocław, Heidelberg, and Paris. He began his professional career with diplomatic translations and steadily climbed higher. From 1879, he served as a consul in Smyrna and, until 1882, as vice-consul in Alexandria, Egypt. He lived in New York and Havana, and from 1886, he became a member of Bismarck’s staff in Berlin, serving as one of his close advisers on foreign policy. He was also a prominent adversary of ‘Gray Eminence’ Friedrich von Holstein. Ludwig held the position of imperial ambassador, serving as a lawyer, diplomat, and president of the German-Asian Society and the Central Bureau for the Study of the Causes of War.

Ludwig Raschdau / source: Wikipedia

Marriage to the Baroness

On September 23, 1889, Raschdau married the wealthy Baroness Christine von Magnus in Berlin, who was seven years older than him. She was the daughter of Berlin chemist Heinrich Gustav Magnus and had previously been involved with her cousin, banker Victor von Magnus. After retiring, they lived together in Herischdorf, now known as Malinnik.

Christine passed away at home at Stonsdorferstrasse 6 (Krośnieńska Street) on August 4, 1936, at the age of 93. Ludwig spent his last years in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf, residing at Lietzenburgerstrasse 28. He died at the hospital Elisabeth Klinik on August 19, 1943, at the same age as his wife, who had passed away 7 years earlier, both having lived to the age of 93.

Death certificate of Christine Raschdau / source: Landesarchiv Berlin

Death certificate of Ludwig Raschdau / source: Landesarchiv Berlin

After the war, the villas belonged to the Polish Red Cross, and there was a training and recreation center here. And today? The sight is heartbreaking.

View of the Wilhelmshöhe villas from ul. Ludwika Hirszfelda / Photo by Marta Maćkowiak

View of the villa in the past / source: Fotopolska.eu

Wilhelmshöhe Guesthouse in Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój

Ludwig Rashdau aka Müller

Marriage to the Baroness

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