We are a team of mother and daughter who has started the renovation works of this former shopping centre in February 2020 to create the guesthouse and centre for alternative & holistic health that it now is.
Ingrid Straub
born in 1952 in Bavaria, Germany
lived and worked in Portugal for 25 years
has always been self-employed
professional qualifications: among others, retail saleswoman, beautician, masseuse, pedicurist, natural health practitioner (Portuguese certificate), family and couple counsellor, manager
battled cancer 3 times with natural medicine only
moved back to Germany in 2009 to pursue her vision of a healing centre
2007 - 2019: founder and manager of Healingcastle Schochwitz, a guesthouse and alternative health centre in Schochwitz, Germany
2020: owner, founder and manager of The Glass-House in Schraplau, Germany
skills: leading, coaching, reading people intuitively, discipline
language skills: German, English, Portuguese
Mercedes Straub
born in 1991 in Bavaria, Germany
lived in Portugal for 17 years
professional qualifications: Bachelor of Arts in Translation Studies German-English-Portuguese ; trained in hotel management (training establishment: Leading Hotel of the World Hotel Schloss Elmau - Wellness Resort)
2009 - 2019: among others, team member of guesthouse and alternative health centre Healingcastle Schochwitz in Schochwitz, Germany
July 2019 - March 2020: Front Office Agent at Leading Hotel of the World Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin, Germany
since March 2020: team member of The Glass-House in Schraplau, Germany
skills: effective working, organization, communication, open-mindedness, general knowledge
language skills: German, English, Portuguese, French, Spanish
Our contribution to sustainability
The word sustainability is being used quite often nowadays, yet its meaning seems to almost just revolve around the environment. There's more to it than just the day-to-day recycling that you do. There are many forms of sustainability. The one we are focussing can be found in our project The Glass-House in the town of Schraplau in Saxony-Anhalt. What used to be a large shopping mall is now The Glass-House, a project that involved making great usage of a building that stood empty for more than a decade. Our goal is to bring back life into this town and show people that we are sustaining a small town, as one day for sure, people will be wanting to leave the big cities again. When we discovered this building, we immediately saw its potential and are quite sure that this is a good step to start reviving Schraplau and its surrounding area.
Our vision for The Glass-House
We do not consider it very effective to create a fully complete concept of a vision, as you might form restrictions to your ideas and ultimately might loose vision or your visions. At this point, we can present to you what we have done so far, starting from January 2020. Until now we have created guestrooms and an event room. These rooms encompass approximately half of The Glass-House, that is, 1000 sqm. We still have another 1000 sqm to go and we would love for YOU to come and join us on this sustainable mission. YOU may bring in your ideas and, even better, create your OWN vision within these glass fronts. We will be there with you along the way, so there is actually nothing to lose!
What we have created so far:
6 guestrooms & 1 loft-apartment
1 kitchen to be shared among guests of The Glass-House
1 café equipped with a full-functioning, professional kitchen
1 meditation & yoga hall
1 event hall approximately 200 sqm large
1 common area with a glass cupola and water fountain
2 accommodation rooms for anyone who wants to join our team, namely YOU! However, we have more rooms for our team in another house in Schraplau
Our future plans:
1 large halls approximately 7sqm large
4 rooms more or less 60 sqm each
All rooms are equipped with water, electricity, heating and sanitary facilities. The best features of The Glass-House are the glass fronts and the modern granite-tiled floors. All the upcoming rooms need are basic renovation and decoration.
Your ideas and participation
The Glass-House has so much space to offer; literally room for ideas. We want YOU to be part of this project, bringt it to and maintain its full potential! There is no room for excuses, just for your vision, and we are willing to help you if you truly bring your motivation and doer's instinct into The Glass-House. Read more about the project and contact us! Go to our contact form.