Blog
Die Heimat Country Inn Is Packed With History
A Visit with Harold Pitz
One winter morning a few weeks ago we had breakfast here in our dining room with Harold Pitz. His is a famous name in our hallways. Harold is the gentleman who, along with Harlan Geiger, (recently deceased), owned and remodeled this place into a B&B in 1960. Harold is no youngster but he has a vivid memory of days gone by. His descriptions of this place fascinated us. Marc, who is now in an intimate relationship with the bones of this wonderful old building, was interested in things like "original footprint," "corner stones," and dates when various sections of the building were added.
The early days of Die Heimat
Harold and Harlan purchased this building from a woman named Henrietta Roemig. This was her private residence. These men saw the potential for the building to be used for lodging. The goal of remodeling the building was to add modern amenities. They made bedrooms and added private baths. They wanted to keep the historic look of the place. For example, oil lanterns were converted to electric lanterns in the dining room and hallways.
Harold and Harlan ran a thriving business, then called Die Heimat Motor Inn, and were booked full much of the time. They had no competition. It seems hard to believe now, but there was nowhere else to stay overnight in the colonies.
Interstate 80 changed things
Die Heimat Motor Inn was the first and only B&B in the seven colonies and there were no hotels until around 1965 when interstate 80 was built. At that time, the Amana Society saw its opportunity and bought property at the intersection of I80 and Hwy 151. There they built a Holiday Inn. This brand new hotel just 9 miles from Homestead where Die Heimat is located likely took some business away. But Harold says that Die Hiemat continued to thrive because "we really had a following". Many people returned again and again. They continue to do so.
Breakfast changes
Amana is known worldwide
The Amana refrigeration division of the Amana Society put the Amana Colonies on the map. The "Amana" name became known worldwide and people from all over started visiting the Amana Colonies and staying at Die Heimat Country Inn.
Former owners
Over the years, other owners have come and gone. Jim Lloyd purchased Die Heimat from Harold and Harlan in 1975. Jim Lloyd was a household name in Marc's family while growing up because Jim hosted a radio talk show about food. Marc's mother loved listening to the Open Line on WMT (Cedar Rapids) and getting new recipes and sharing some of her own with other listeners. The amazing thing for us to discover was that Jim Lloyd broadcast his show from our current office, room #19. The Lloyds had rooms 16, 17, and 18 added in the mid-80s.
Now it's our turn
We are honored to be part of a line of owners of Die Heimat who no doubt loved this place like we do. We are carefully and creatively fixing, restoring, and updating so that this continues to be a special place for guests. It is a pleasure to share Die Heimat with our guests who often love to learn the history of the building and hear stories of the past.