The tenant of Muzejka in Brno must move out by the end of May.

Brno – The tenant of the Muzejka café in the Bergl Palace on Moravian Square in Brno has been given notice by the city and must vacate the premises by the end of May. The city leadership made this decision after eight years during which the tenant, the company Gattamelata, had long-standing issues with paying rent and energy deposits. Once the premises are empty, the city will offer them for rent to other interested parties, the Brno city hall stated in a press release.

"The tenant's payment morale has been very erratic from the beginning and their current debt exceeds 800,000 crowns. Although we as a city invested several million crowns into the space and, at the tenant's request, built a completely new ventilation system, we have not achieved the purpose for which the lease agreement was signed, namely the operation of a restaurant. This is despite the fact that the premises have been approved for use for more than three years," said Deputy Mayor for property management Karin Podivinská (ANO).

The approval of the premises, which the Gattamelata company has rented since May 2016, has been delayed in the past due to several defects. Among other things, the tenant painted the building with oil paints without consulting with conservationists. As a result, they did not obtain their positive opinion for the issuance of a construction approval and the city leadership was asked by the tenant to waive the rent for the past months, arguing that without the approval they could not operate the restaurant or generate profit. The council did not grant the tenant's request at that time.

The Bergl Palace, also known as the Bergler Palace or Bergl Villa or Muzejka, was built in the 1860s as a Neo-Renaissance building with a Neo-Gothic facade. The building was designed by the Viennese architect Heinrich Ferstel, the author of the nearby Red Church and several other buildings in Brno. The name Muzejka was given to the building in the 1920s when it belonged to the Agricultural Museum and the Museum Café was located on the ground floor. The museum was closed in 1943, but the name remained with the building. It has been listed as a protected monument since 1964.