Four pieces of furniture returned to the Tugendhat villa after years

Brno - Four pieces of original furniture have returned today to the Brno functionalist villa Tugendhat, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, after many years. According to experts, these items are unique in their design and the materials from which they were made. Among them are a sideboard, a bench, a coffee table, and a Spring Chair. The items were purchased by Brno from the descendants of the Tugendhat family, said Iveta Černá, the head of the building's management, to ČTK.
    The city, which operates the villa, bought the four pieces of furniture for 285,000 euros (approximately 7.7 million CZK). A team of nine restorers has been conserving and repairing them for about a year. The work was funded by Vienna, which provided a grant of 50,000 euros (approximately 1.3 million CZK).
    "These four items have basically never left Brno," Černá stated. They were placed in the villa after its completion in 1938, when the Jewish industrialist family Tugendhat had a residence built with a view of Brno. The living room is also known as the Glass Room, as one of its walls consists of windows.
    After World War II, the four pieces of furniture ended up in one of the neighboring houses and later became the property of the Moravian Gallery. After 1989, they were returned to the Tugendhat family. In the villa, copies replace the original items in their original places.
    The four pieces of furniture will be displayed in glass cases at the villa's visitor center, which maintains a stable temperature. "Time has taken its toll on them, after all. If exposed to temperature fluctuations, they could be destroyed," Černá added.
    The most valuable of the four items is the red Spring Chair by designer Lilly Reich, who collaborated with the villa's creator, architect Mies van der Rohe. The villa's furnishings are made of tubes, sheet metal, polished wood, or quality rocks.
    For example, the sideboard has glass made of opaxite. When sunlight reflects off the onyx wall within the villa, the glass on the table changes color to a soft purple. The sideboard resembles a small building, while the coffee table has legs like a spider.
    Annually, about 40,000 people visit the Tugendhat villa. Interest in tours of the villa is extraordinary. "No more tourists can be permitted annually due to the protection of the villa as a building," Černá noted.