Historical Walking Tour: Station 1
Introduction to the Historical Walking Tour
I am particularly attracted by this house, which is completely isolated, which is located on a hill; it is also called: Villa La Collina [translated: "Villa Hill"]. One is alone, and yet has the beauty of nature, and I have become so familiar with the authorities and the people of the whole region over the years, that I do not think they regard me as a stranger. That's what makes you feel good during a stay, when you're surrounded by the very sympathetic and friendly people as the people are there.
In the 1950s, "Bella Italia" became the most popular travel destination for German citizens. The holiday on the beaches of the "boot" was an expression of the newly acquired prosperity and a sweet fruit of the "economic miracle". Chancellor Konrad Adenauer also went on vacation from the often rainy Bonn to the south, but unlike most of his compatriots, he was not looking for "La Dolce Vita", the hectic tourist beach life, but "La Vita Contemplativa", peace and relaxation in harmony with nature. In the 1950s, he discovered the northern Italian lakes near Switzerland, which combine a Mediterranean climate, water and a unique mountain panorama.
Adenauer owed the "tip" for a stay on Lake Como to a prominent party friend, namely the two-time CDU/CSU parliamentary group chairman (1949-1955 and 1961-1964) and Federal Foreign Minister from 1955 to 1961, Heinrich von Brentano di Tremezzo. His ancestors came from the region around Lake Como, as the name suffix indicates. Some of them had emigrated as merchants to the then imperial city of Frankfurt am Main in the 17th century.
Adenauer spent eighteen holidays in Cadenabbia between 1957 and 1966 (initially at the Villa Rosa and the Villa Arminio). He stayed fourteen times at the "Villa La Collina", which became his permanent holiday home from 1959. During their stay in April/May 1964, Adenauer and his companions were as an exception guests at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Dirk Stikker at his villa "Bel Faggio" in Menaggio.
The "Villa La Collina" belonged to an Italian aristocrat living in Paris, but he hardly used the property himself. The physical well-being of the holidaymakers was taken care of by chefs from the dining car company of the Federal Railway. After the end of the chancellorship, Adenauer regularly brought his cook from Rhöndorf to Lake Como.
Since the "Villa La Collina" was usually not inhabited the rest of the time, further furniture and additional crockery were borrowed on site from the nearby Hotel Britannia. Adenauer usually got up shortly before seven and had his first morning coffee delivered to his room. In the morning, either conversations with visitors or walks and hikes in the surrounding area took place. After dinner, the residents usually spent time together in the living room of the villa, either reading aloud, playing board games or chatting. Around ten o'clock in the evening they retired to their rooms.
The stay usually lasted several weeks, but – even if times were less fast-paced back then than in today's digital age – it was nevertheless associated with the need for the Federal Chancellor to regularly study files and meet with his ministers and other politicians. In addition, he received foreign state guests and celebrities at his holiday destination. The "Villa La Collina" became the "substitute chancellor's office", so to speak.
