Villa Tugendhat (Czech: Vila Tugendhat) is an important building in Brno, Czech Republic. It is one of the early examples of modern architecture in Europe and was designed by German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. The building was constructed between 1928 and 1930 for Fritz Tugendhat and his wife, Greta, who were part of the wealthy and influential Jewish Czech Tugendhat family. Made of reinforced concrete, the villa quickly became a symbol of modern design. Known for its innovative use of space and materials commonly used in factories, the building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.

Design

The free-standing three-story villa is located on a slope and faces the south-west. The second story (the ground floor) includes the main living and social areas, such as the conservatory, terrace, kitchen, and servants' rooms. The third story (the first floor) has the main entrance from the street, leading to the terrace, entrance hall, and rooms for the parents, children, and the nanny, along with suitable facilities. The chauffeur's flat, garages, and terrace are accessed separately.

Mies' design principle of "less is more" and focus on practical features created a notable example of early functionalist architecture, a new and important approach to building design at the time. Mies used an innovative iron framework, which allowed him to remove supporting walls and arrange the interior to create a sense of open space and light. The main living area has a curtain wall with many large windows, offering a wide view of Špilberk Castle. Two of these windows can be fully lowered into the floor, similar to how windows work in a car. Mies chose all the furnishings, working with interior designer Lilly Reich. Two armchairs designed for the building, the Tugendhat chair and the Brno chair, are still being made today. There were no paintings or decorative items in the villa, but the interior was not plain because it used naturally patterned materials like onyx walls and rare tropical woods. The onyx wall is partially transparent and changes color when the evening sun is low. The architect made the view from the villa a key part of the interior design.

The villa's cost was very high because of its unusual construction, luxurious materials, and modern heating and ventilation systems. The lower-ground level was used for service areas. A very modern air-conditioning system was installed, and a glass wall that opens completely was built into the wall. The floor space was much larger and more open than typical homes of the time, with many storage rooms, making the structure unique but possibly confusing for visitors unfamiliar with its minimalist style.

The main living area has a dividing wall made of brown-gold onyx, which Mies obtained from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. He personally oversaw the cutting and finishing of the material.

Unusually for the time, the building has air conditioning.

In the basement, there are several service rooms, including a machine to retract the windows and the Mottenkammer, a special room to store fur coats in a way that protects them from moths.

Photo gallery

• Front View
• View from the Street After Renovations in 2012
• Left Side View from the Street (2012)
• Onyx Wall in the Living Room
• Interior of Vila Tugendhat Showing a View of Špilberk Castle

History

The villa was built by Fritz and Greta Tugendhat, who were German Jews. A company led by Artur and Moritz Eisler started building the villa in the summer of 1929 and completed it in 14 months.

Fritz and Greta lived in the villa for eight years before the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazis forced the family to leave Czechoslovakia in 1938 to protect their lives. This happened shortly before the country was divided following the Munich Agreement with the Nazis. The family moved to Switzerland and later fled again to Venezuela. After the Holocaust, they returned to Switzerland but never lived in the villa again.

The villa was taken over by the Gestapo in 1939 and used as an apartment and office. The inside was changed, and many items were lost. In 1942, the house was rented as offices for the Nazi Messerschmitt airplane company. Willy Messerschmitt, the company’s leader, had his own apartment in the villa.

In April 1945, Brno was freed by the Red Army. A Soviet unit stayed in the villa and damaged the white linoleum floor. Some reports say the villa was used as a stable, but this is unlikely because the garden entrance is too small. Remaining furniture was used as firewood.

After the war, the Tugendhat family asked in 1945 to keep their Czechoslovak citizenship and requested the return of their property in 1947. However, their property remained taken by the government. The villa became city property, and the factory became part of the Mosilana National Enterprise.

In the years after the war, the building was partly repaired and used for different purposes, such as a children’s physiotherapy center, for many years.

Greta Tugendhat returned to the villa in 1967 with Dirk Lohan, an architect from Mies’s Chicago studio, and explained the original design to him. A group of Czech architects then worked to repair the villa. It was added to the National List of Cultural Heritage in 1969 and restored after 1980. On August 26, 1992, political leaders Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar met there to sign a document that divided Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Since 1994, the villa has been open to the public as a museum managed by the city of Brno.

In 1993, the Villa Tugendhat Fund and Friends of Tugendhat were created to protect the villa. In 1995, Brno received a $15,000 grant from the Samuel H. Kress European Preservation Program to support research. A foundation in Liechtenstein gave $100,000, and the Robert Wilson Foundation matched this amount.

In 2007, Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat asked to get the villa back, citing a law about art taken during the Holocaust. This request seemed to be because the city of Brno had not repaired the villa properly, and parts of the interior were missing. Later, some original wood panels were found at Masaryk University, which was used by the Gestapo.

Restoration began in February 2010 with an estimated cost of 150 million Czech koruna (about $7.8 million). The work finished in February 2012, and the villa reopened to the public in March 2012. To celebrate the restoration, the Royal Institute of British Architects held an exhibition in London called "Villa Tugendhat in Context," showing the villa’s history and recent repairs.

Near the villa is the Art Nouveau Löw-Beer Villa, which was Greta’s family home. It is now a museum branch and will host an exhibition called "The World of the Brno Bourgeoisie" about the Löw-Beers and Tugendhats.

In popular culture

The villa was the main setting in the 2007 movie Hannibal Rising, where the villain, Vladis Gutas, lived. In 2009, Simon Mawer wrote a novel called The Glass Room, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The book is a fictional story about a house inspired by the villa. A film titled The Affair, which was partly based on the novel, was filmed at the villa and released in 2019.