Visitors can take a look at the garden of the Art Nouveau Löw-Beer villa

Brno - From today, visitors can at least take a look at the garden of the Art Nouveau Löw-Beer villa in Brno. The villa is adjacent to the world-famous Tugendhat villa, which is set to open fully in the second half of this year. However, starting in June, people will be able to enter for guided tours, as the villa does not yet have an exhibition. This information came from today’s statement by representatives of the Museum of Brno and the South Moravian Region.
    According to curator Petra Svobodová, the restored garden represents a welcome quiet zone intended for recreation and relaxation. In addition to the garden with a view of the Tugendhat villa, people can visit the original customs house from the 18th century for free, which later served as stables or the Löw-Beer gardener's house. From today, a café is open there, and on the upper floor, there is an exhibition titled "Brno Traces of the Löw-Beer Family."
    According to Svobodová, the establishment of an exhibition in the Löw-Beer villa is being delayed by the demanding management of public contracts, among other things. The exhibition "The World of Brno's Bourgeoisie between Löw-Beer and Tugendhat" will probably be ready in the fall. "The exhibition will be about the Löw-Beer family and their business; visitors will see what the Art Nouveau dining room looked like. There will also be a room dedicated to the exemplary heritage restoration of the Tugendhat villa, and some artifacts from the Tugendhat villa will be presented, such as period linoleum," Svobodová stated.
    The Löw-Beers were a prominent Jewish industrial family originating from Boskovice. The family was involved in the sugar industry and wool production. They had a factory complex in Svitávka in Blanensko, where they also owned another significant villa. The family also operated in Brno. In 1913, Alfred Löw-Beer purchased an Art Nouveau house with an extensive plot, where later his daughter Greta Tugendhat and her husband built the world-famous functionalist villa in the upper part.
    There is currently a fence between the two villas, which will likely not be removed for several years. "We hope that this will be achieved in a few years, as it will be more convenient for visitors," Svobodová said. According to her, the fence cannot be removed yet due to the different grant titles under which the villas were restored.
    The Löw-Beer villa was nationalized after 1945 and from the 1960s until 2012, it served as housing for the Masaryk Student Dormitory. Secondary school students lived there. Since 2001, the villa has been owned by the South Moravian Region, which has gradually developed a project for its restoration, which cost 60 million crowns.