In Svitávka, the Great Löw-Beer Villa will be opened to the public for the first time

photo: Miloš Strnad

Svitávka (Blanensko) - Interested parties will be able to visit the so-called Great Löw-Beer villa in Svitávka, Blanensko, next Saturday for the first time, from the attic to the cellar. This Art Nouveau building is among the significant monuments. It was the residence of the wealthy Jewish Löw-Beer family. During the event, a new documentary film and book about their fate will be presented, said the town's deputy mayor Jaroslav Zoubek to ČTK today.
    The Löw-Beers owned a wool processing factory in Svitávka. They had the residence built there at the beginning of the 20th century. It consists of the Great villa and the Small villa. The first houses the town office and library, while the second villa has a private owner. The Löw-Beers also owned a villa in Brno. In its garden, Greta Löw-Beerová had the Tugendhat villa built after her marriage to Fritz Tugendhat during the First Republic, which is listed as a UNESCO monument.
    "The Great villa is essentially an Art Nouveau mansion. Not much of the furnishings have survived, yet it is worth seeing," stated Zoubek. The original appearance of the office, where the mayor's office is located, has been best preserved. It contains original built-in furniture and a marble fireplace.
    Visitors will be able to see the attic of the building, which housed the laundry. It utilized rainwater from the gutters. The villa has preserved a food lift connecting the kitchen on the ground floor with the upper floors of the building. The unique system of window shutters used at that time was remarkable. One of the villa's main features is a large wooden staircase.
    The town hall has been preparing for the opening of the villa along with the creation of a book and a film about the Löw-Beers for two years. The project cost nearly a million crowns and is funded by the EU. A suitcase belonging to Alfred Löw-Beer will be exhibited in the villa on Saturday. He fled with it in 1939 from the Nazis. He died under unknown circumstances in Šumava, where the suitcase was found.
    A descendant of the family, John Löw-Beer, will come to the event from New York. It will also feature a conference on the architectural uniqueness of the family villas and their connection with the Tugendhat villa.
    Most members of the Löw-Beer family perished in concentration camps during World War II. Their extensive property was first confiscated by the Nazis and then by the communists after the war based on Beneš decrees as Germans, despite being German Jews.