Grossmann villa opens

Publikováno: 9.4.2024

Grossmann villa, the architectural pearl of Ostrava, will soon welcome its first visitors. After an extensive restoration of the building, which began in 2021, the process of saving the villa is now finished.

 
Scheduled tours

"The extensive reconstruction returned the residence to an old-new appearance corresponding to the period of Grossmann's life which was about one hundred years ago. Now, after the fundamental step of restoration, comes an equally important step of welcoming the visitors to the historical building. In the coming weeks, the villa will be made available to the public with a regular cultural program and a tour that will introduce visitors to the story of František Grossmann and his 'fairytale palace'. Those who are interested will be able to see the villa for the first time on April 4.

Detailed schedule of opening hours as well as other points of interest and information about events can be found on the website https://www.vilagrossmann.cz. Other similar buildings inspired us to make the villa available to public, Villa Tugendhat in Brno is a fine example. The operation of the villa will be ensured by the city company Černá louka," informed Lucie Baránková Vilamová, deputy mayor for culture.

 
Last minute rescue

The century-old building has undergone a number of different interventions and was not in a good structural and technical condition before the reconstruction. The building was infested by wood rot, there were leaks, the dominant staircase of the building was removed and in previous decades various interventions were carried out in the interior end exterior as well. The villa was designed by František Grossmann as his family and company residence, and when it was built it was one of the most magnificent buildings in Moravian Ostrava - exceptional architectural design, inside equipment and a generously conceived garden.

"The past decades have also brought unprofessional interventions to the villa, the building was used for housing, later also as a school facility, it also falling into disrepair over the years, which of course affected the condition of the house, and rescue came almost at the last minute. It was also discovered during the reconstruction that the building was significantly affected by wood rot. I have all the respect for the professionalism of everyone who participated in saving the house and step by step restored the beauty of the individual unique elements that were preserved, and dealt with the processes to restore and make replicas of the elements whose saving was no longer possible. I therefore want to thank everyone who contributed with their art and activity to the rescue of this exceptional historical building. Apart from the frequently visited industrial monuments and the popular zoo, Ostrava will thus offer a new tourist destination that will surely be appreciated not only by fans of history and architecture. Grossmann villa will expand the portfolio of interesting places worth visiting and seeing in the city," stated Jan Dohnal, the mayor of the Ostrava.

 
A piece of Vienna in Ostrava

František Grossmann had the family villa with the representative seat of the construction office built between the years 1922 and 1924. The building attracted attention with its luxurious design and unusual construction solution. The house was surrounded by a garden with exotic trees, sculptural decoration, a gazebo, a pool and a fountain. "František Grossmann's villa is one of the few larger-scale villas built in Moravian Ostrava in the first half of the 1920s. Despite the fact that the situation in the country was different after 1918, the building represents the strong influence of Vienna on Ostrava. The villa shows a classicizing architectural form, with elements of decorativism, which emphasizes an articulated material composition. This compisition is seen in edges of doors and windows, cornices, in the solution of risalites and shields, emphasized by finely elaborated decoration and complemented by other artistic works of figural decoration. The uniqueness of the building is also linked to the administrative building, which is integrated into the urban design, and the whole building together with the garden thus transcends the relatively small-town environment of Moravian Ostrava at that time," explained Daniel Vaněk, the architect of the project, .

Tomáš Rusek, the curator of Grossmann villa, briefly commented on the personality of the builder and his story: "František Grossmann was born on August 3, 1876 in Pustějov, and he learned the basics of the construction trade from his father, who was a foreman mason. After studying at a master's school at a German industrial company in Brno, he developed into an independent builder in Frýdek, and in 1906 he moved to Moravian Ostrava and joined forces with the architect František Fiala. The company then made a number of buildings in the Ostrava region, with the most significant ones being the Church of the Virgin Mary in the Mariánské Hory, the House of Catholic Journeymen or the private sanatorium of Dr. Leopold Klein. Of course, those who are interested will learn more during the planned tours of the villa."

 

Fairytale palace

František Grossmann and his family enjoyed the "fairytale palace," as the press of the time called the villa, for only ten years. As a result of the economic crisis and financial problems, the builder chose voluntary retirement in 1933. The villa was then acquired in an auction in 1937 by the Moravian Mortgage and Agricultural Bank in Brno. In March 1939, the house was bought by Josef Ryba and his wife Alžběta. Josef Ryba was the director of the production company Eternitas in Moravian Ostrava. After the end of the Second World War and Ryba's departure from the management of the company, the family sold half of the house to the Pišts in 1958. In 1964-65, the villa was bought by the city's national committee for the purpose of establishing a kindergarten and then a school group, which then left the dilapidated house in 2005.