The gardens of the Brno villas Tugendhat and Löw-Beer are once again interconnected and passable.

Brno - The gardens of the Brno villas Tugendhat and Löw-Beer are once again connected and freely passable, similar to before World War II, when both houses were inhabited by related families. Tourists had previously accessed the lower garden of the Löw-Beer villa for free, but the garden of the Tugendhat villa overlooking Brno remained subject to an entrance fee. Now there is an open gate between the two parcels, allowing people to walk through the gardens from Lužánky to the villa quarter in Černá Pole.

Passage will be possible during the opening hours of the Tugendhat villa, said the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková (ODS), today. It is a trial operation, currently for one year.

The entrance fee to the garden of the Tugendhat villa, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was previously 50 crowns. According to museum director Zbyněk Šolc, the Museum of the City of Brno aims to compensate for the loss of income by offering a guided tour of the terraces and garden of the villa. The price for the tour is 150 crowns.

The entire slope once belonged to the Jewish business family Löw-Beer. The upper part of the property was a wedding gift to Greta Löw-Beer, who married Fritz Tugendhat. They had an iconic modern architectural building designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but they only occupied it for eight years before they had to flee from the Nazis.

Children used to sled across the garden from one villa to the other, said Ivo Hammer, a family representative whose wife Daniela is the daughter of Greta and Fritz Tugendhat, although she was born in exile. Hammer also emphasized how important it is to open gates, whether mentally or physically.

In the vicinity of both gardens stands Arnold’s villa, another architectural monument that is currently under reconstruction. "Once it is completed, a unique space will be created connecting all three of these gardens," Vaňková said.