Drugstore Mies

The plastered half-timbered house, built around 1700, belonged in the 19th century to a wealthy citizen, probably a merchant. At the back of the mansard roof one can find a very high double-storey attic. Two dormers situated above each other were receded after World War II. From 1822 onwards several generations of Jewish merchants lived in this building. Julie Levy, born Mayer (1859-1942), ran a general store and a drugstore on the ground floor which became an institution in Unkel as „drugstore, general store, manufacturing and haberdashery, tobacco and cigarettes“. Her husband was the respected town secretary Jonas Levy (1858-1935). In 1907 Carl Mies bought the property and continued the business successfully. Then in 1933 being the mayor he fought against the takeover of the National Socialists and became a co-founder of the Christian Democratic Union. In the middle of the 1980s the hotel owner Horstmann bought the building and as with all his properties in Unkel, let it fall into decay. In 2018 the building was in such a bad condition that it was no longer habitable. This historically important half- timbered house is now waiting for an enthusiastic renovator.