Brno agreed to the exchange of the former school on Jánská for the Chleborád villa

Brno - Today, Brno city councilors approved the exchange between the city and the Brno bishopric. In exchange for the building of the former school on Jánská street, the city will acquire Chleborád's villa. The bishopric will also pay the city approximately 53 million crowns. The villa previously housed a organ school where composer Leoš Janáček taught, and his archive is currently stored there. The city intends to transform the villa into the Museum of Leoš Janáček. The bishopric aims to create a church primary school on Jánská street, where Gregor Mendel also taught.

Out of 39 councilors, 39 voted for the exchange, nine abstained, and nobody opposed. Deputy Mayor Robert Kerndl (ODS) described the exchange as a phenomenal success. "For the city, this is not only advantageous but the best possible solution I can imagine," said Kerndl. He stated that the bishopric committed to breathing new life into the building on Jánská and that it would once again serve education. The city, after years, will gain ownership of Chleborád's villa, where a museum dedicated to one of the most significant residents of Brno will be established.

According to opposition councilor Adam Zemek (Pirates), the effort to acquire Chleborád's villa is correct and supported, but he disagrees with the city disposing of school buildings. He mentioned that the significance of these properties will only grow.

Deputy for the property area Jiří Oliva (SOCDEM) acknowledged understanding of this remark but stated that there was no other way. "If we want to acquire Chleborád's villa, the exchange for that former school property is the only way to obtain it," Oliva explained. He added that there have been attempts to acquire Chleborád's villa for 30 years. "It has always failed to find a suitable property for the exchange. There is no other property that the bishopric would agree to exchange," said Oliva.

He previously indicated that both properties had been valued by expert assessments. The market value of the land with the building at Jánská 22 was estimated at about 120 million, while the land with Chleborád's villa was valued at about 68 million. The bishopric will compensate the city for the price difference.

The city has long pursued Chleborád's villa at the corner of Kounicova and Smetanova streets due to its close connection to Janáček. The neo-Renaissance villa, constructed at the end of the 19th century, was transformed into an organ school shortly after its completion. From 1906, Leoš Janáček served as its director. From 1910 until the end of his life, he also lived and created in a house built in the garden of this school. Today, his workspace remains there, furnished with authentic furniture including the piano on which Janáček played.

The Moravian Museum has long cared for the memorial in the garden house, as well as the archive stored in the villa, which was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register in 2017. The archive is unique for its completeness. It preserves manuscripts and period descriptions of Janáček's compositions, opera librettos, literary and scholarly studies, notes of speech motifs, a library, and an extensive correspondence of nearly 15,000 items.