To spot Haus "Graf Anton Günther", just look for the grand red-brick building with large, white-framed windows and, if you peek to your left, you’ll catch the impressive painting of a man on horseback right on the facade.
Welcome, traveler! You’re now standing where barrels once rolled and smoke filled the air, thanks to the busy life of merchants and tobacco makers from centuries ago. Imagine the year is 1682-a great fire has swept through Oldenburg, but on Lange Straße, hopeful hands are laying fresh bricks to rebuild the city. For 135 years, the Grovermann family watched the world change through these very windows. Then, in 1838, the air grew thick with the scent of tobacco leaves when Johann Karl Propping set up his factory right here. You can almost hear the clatter of wooden carts and maybe, if the wind’s right, catch a faint whiff of cigars!
Later in the 1890s, this house shuffled owners faster than a deck of cards-until the Hoyer brewery rolled in and transformed it into the hotel and restaurant you see today. And what about the horseman above you? That’s none other than Count Anton Günther, astride his noble steed, Kranich, captured forever in a fresco by Professor August Oetken. Legend has it, if you wink at the Count as you walk by, he just might wink back-he’s been keeping an eye on Oldenburg for centuries! Shall we head to the next stop?
