Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg. He spent time in Bad Kissingen with his parents and brother when he was just 11 years old. In his memoirs, he writes about this visit, during which his enthusiasm for butterflies—which was already evident even then—did not meet with unqualified approval from his relatives: “I soon discovered that a lepidopterist (butterfly researcher), going about his quiet quest, easily provokes strange reactions in others. How often, when we went on a picnic, would I sheepishly try to slip my modest equipment unnoticed into the tar-scented Char -a-Bancs (a tar-based preparation meant to keep flies away from the horses) or into the tar-scented Opel convertible (that’s how gasoline smelled back then), some cousin or aunt would remark: ‘Do you really have to take that net with you? Can’t you find something normal to do, like a normal boy? Don’t you think you’re spoiling everyone’s fun?’” Nabokov then went into exile in Germany in 1917 before the October Revolution, emigrated with his Jewish wife via France to the United States after the Nazis seized power, and then returned to Europe in the early 1960s. While he initially earned a living by teaching at various universities, he was able to make a living entirely from writing after the publication of the novel “Lolita.”
At Villa Müller, you won't find a front desk or a room key waiting for you at the counter. Instead, you'll find an apartment that feels like home right from the start.
