In the house of Johanna Hückel in Nový Jičín, there could be a repository with a collection of hats

Nový Jičín – In the heritage-protected villa of Johann Hückel in Nový Jičín, a depository for a hat collection could be established. The city and the Moravian-Silesian Region have agreed to allow the Museum of Nový Jičín to use it, which is a regional contributory organization. The two Hückel villas have belonged to the city since 2016, but it lacks the funds for their expensive renovation. Therefore, it has concluded a memorandum of cooperation with the region to rescue the villas. This was announced today by the spokesperson of the Nový Jičín City Hall, Marie Machková.

"The area of Hückel's villas was purchased by the city ten years ago, and it has not yet been possible to find a functional and economic use for them. Their reconstruction is needed, with costs amounting to hundreds of millions of crowns, which is almost an unrealistic burden for the city's budget. Therefore, we contacted the Moravian-Silesian Region with an offer of cooperation,” said Deputy Mayor Václav Dobrozemský (ODS).

In the future, additional contracts will follow the memorandum, such as property and financial agreements. "The city will remain the owner of the property, but the museum will build an open depository for its collections and items in the building,” said Machková. According to her, both parties committed to ensuring that the spaces could be used for storing the museum's hat collection.

"This approach gives us a chance to save at least one villa and ensure that the large collection of hats and headgear remains in Nový Jičín. There is a real threat that the Museum of Nový Jičín would move it to another city because the current state, where the collection items are scattered across several buildings, is inadequate,” said Mayor Stanislav Kopecký (ANO). Deputy Mayor Ondřej Syrovátka (Zelení) added that the unique collection will be made accessible to the public, as the museum's depository should operate in what is called an open regime.

The Hückels established a hat factory, now known as Tonak, in Nový Jičín. They built four villas on the hillside above the factory on the edge of the city. They left the city at the end of World War II, and as Germans, the state confiscated the factory and their homes. Two of the villas have been renovated. One belongs to the city and houses a kindergarten, while the other, which contains a children's home, is owned by the region.

The two oldest villas of August and Johann Hückel were built between 1880 and 1882 according to the design of the prominent Viennese architect Otto Thienemann. After the war, one was a children's health resort, and the other was a dermatology department of a hospital. In 1995, they were declared cultural monuments, and the city bought them in 2016 in a devastated state to renovate them and prevent their destruction.

"In 2023, we renovated and opened the park around the villas to the public. However, the villas themselves remain unused for most of the year. Because there is great interest in them, we organize a cultural event on the premises once a year with a tour of the buildings and several independent tours as part of the Technotrasa throughout the year,” said Syrovátka.