History
We have on this page collected some pictures from the hotel, and the main part is from the years 1913 - 1917 when a resident of Vitemölla, August Olofsson, had acquired a camera that he diligently used to document various events at Vitemölla.
Sources:
Monica Larsson's book "Livet på Vitemölla, förr och nu" published in 1997.
Krister Hjelm's movie "Från Röd Lykta till White Guide - om Vitemölla Badhotell"
Morten Persson and Anders Westerberg, Vitemölla Kulturföreningen's exhibition about Vitemölla Badhotell 2022.
Photography:
Pictures in the section 1913 - 1917 are taken by August Olofsson. Other pictures up to 1989 are from postcards with unknown photographer.
1913 - 1917
It was in 1911 that two of Vitemölla's merchants formed a company together to build a hotel on a large plot of land in the southern part of Vitemölla. They succeeded in their project and in 1913 a magnificent building was completed and the hotel was ready to be inaugurated. A big opening party was held, which became the talk of the entire Scanian countryside. The hotel became widely known and popular and in the Nordic family book from 1914 it is mentioned as one of the finest hotels on the east coast.
The hotel a few years after its construction in 1913. The building has now been supplemented with a veranda to the north and a small tower room, as well as a popular outdoor dance floor.
Waitresses from the hotel enjoy the beach near the hotel. Some residents in Vitemölla reacted to the fact that they were bathing with men, and another bathing hotel in Mölle put up signs indicating different places for men and women to bathe.
Well-earned break in the green for the hotel's waitresses.
The photographs from 1913 and a few years later were all taken by August Olofsson, pictured above. A steward who bought a camera and became Vitemölla's own photographer for five years, capturing everything from weddings to daily events.
August Olofsson took a picture of the hotel and the beach while sitting in a rowing boat. He developed the image and then sent it as a postcard to America, postmarked 1913. The zoom in below shows that at the time of the opening, the tower and the extended veranda had not yet been built.
"Now the pleasant bathing season is over. Have had a nice summer, sad that it ended so quickly. Here is a view of the beach with the bathing hotel.”
Regards Aug”
At this time, many of the guests were picked up at Vitaby train station, about 2 kilometres from Vitemölla, by horse and cart and driven to Vitemölla.
Cooking in the hotel's kitchen.
The strong drinks counter in the dining room.
Coffee on the veranda.
Above, four carpenters being photographed by August Olofsson during construction. The hotel's veranda rests on plinths in the sand.
1918 - 1941
1918 - 1941
The hotel became widely known and popular, and in the Nordic family book from 1914 it is mentioned as one of the finest spa hotels on the east coast. In 1926, the then not yet famous opera singer Jussi Björling and his brother performed at the hotel on several occasions during the summer. At the end of the 1930s, perhaps because of its dance floor, the hotel became a place where troublemakers from Simrishamn went to fight and the hotel was of course negatively affected by this.
1942 - 1944
1942 - 1944
During the Second World War, the hotel became a sanctuary for the children of the Finnish Winter War. The orphanage was financed by funds raised in the municipality. At the end of the war, the hotel was filled with Polish women who had managed to escape the concentration camps and arrived here on Bernadotte's white buses. There were a lot of bachelors in Vitemölla at this time and a number of fishermen and Polish women found love and each other and remained in Vitemölla. Nowdays it is their grandchildren who are part of Vitemölla's fishermen.
1945 - 1961
1945 - 1961
The second half of the 1940s is described by those who remember a time when the hotel had many visitors. At the end of the 1940s, the County Council took over the running of the hotel. It now became a rest home for Swedish housewives. They were overworked and could not afford to pay for such a stay. They spent two to three weeks at Vitemölla and the hotel and had a wonderful break from all the worries of home. Instead of pots and pans, they enjoyed healthy food and lovely walks by the sea. The manager during this time has received thousands of thank you cards from women all over Sweden who really appreciated the opportunity to come to Vitemölla and recuperate. The dance floor was demolished in the 1950s.
1962 - 1988
1962 - 1988
In 1962 the hotel became a hotel again when Dagnet "Dana" Ekelund bought the hotel and ran it until 1972. It was then bought by Sture Cassegård and his wife Hiroko, who ran the hotel until 1988 as a summer hotel, but also hosted eel festivals, Christmas parties and dance and disco nights. Towards the end of the 1980s, it was covered with eternit plates.
1988 - 1989
1988 - 1989
In the late 1980s there were a number of new owners, and towards the end of the period the hotel became more and more run-down. Around 1988, some people were working to have the hotel demolished to make way for housing. But thankfully this did not happen.
1990 - 2018
1990 - 2018
The hotel was bought in the early 1990s by Rolf Lundahl. The hotel was completely renovated with a gentle hand over four years and was completed in 1997. The renovation was thorough, but at the same time the atmosphere and the feeling of a seaside hotel is well preserved. The renovation was certainly not rushed. Labour and skills were sourced from the local area. Carpenters were Gert Nilsson from Simris and Jan Nilsson from Vitemölla, and painter was Jan Andersson from Kivik. Jens and Jörgen Bladh at Kylprodukter in Kivik organised the ventilation and cooling system, and Åke Svensson in Brösarp all the plumbing. The result was a fantastic building, almost exactly restored, externally, to the original appearance of its glory days. In 1999, Rolf Lundahl and architect Svante Lundqvist received Simrishamn Municipality's newly established architecture prize for the renovation and restoration.
2019 -
2019 -
Since 2019, we have been working on a long-term plan and with the goal that the hotel will be able to continue to function as a hotel all year round. An important piece of the puzzle is that we get the opportunity to offer more accommodation to our guests. (Already in 1913, the hotel was too small, and every summer there were a large number of summer guests who lived in the small houses in the village but had full board at the hotel.) A hotel that can offer attractive accommodation regardless of the season provides the conditions for a year-round business, while at the same time we achieve a balance between the large beautiful dining room and the number of rooms.
In the beautiful pine forest behind the hotel with a nice view that is glimpsed between the pine trees, we therefore plan to build 6 houses for families who wish to come to Vitemölla for a longer weekend or a week. During the process of the new detailed plan for the area, we have received good advice from the municipality in Simrishamn and the County Administrative Board. After a number of years of work and adjustments according to the municipality and the County Administrative Board's recommendations, as well as completed investigations, such as a nature value inventory, geotechnical investigation, environmental investigation, stormwater investigation, mapping of trees worthy of protection and traffic investigation, the final detailed plan was completed this summer.
We were very pleased when the municipality unanimously adopted the detailed plan in September and the County Administrative Board had no objections. Hopefully, the new detailed plan will gain legal force by the summer of 2024. We think it will go well, are hopeful, and look forward to reopening the hotel in 2024.
