Vila Tugendhat

WAR DEVASTATION

The Villa was devastated by the cavalry division of Malinovsky’s army. A major part of the up until then preserved interior equipment and furniture was destroyed. The report regarding the state of the house, drawn up in all probability in autumn of 1945, states amongst other things that the bathroom at the master bedroom had been almost completely destroyed; the bench was damaged on the upper terrace and assorted pieces of furniture were used as fire wood. Everything in the caretaker’s flat was in a devastated state with shards, dust, rags and rubbish everywhere. All of the glazed surfaces were broken in the main living area (apart from the retractable window opposite the onyx wall). There was glass and horse droppings and manure everywhere (similarly in the kitchen and in the basement). The boiler was damaged in the boiler room with the motors missing for the air transfer and for retracting the windows.

The Villa was provisionally repaired by July 1945 at the latest with the private dancing school of Karla Hladká functioning from here as of 1st of August 1945. The reconstruction work was carried out by the Brno builder Albín Hofírek (born 1901) and in all probability organised by Karla Hladká herself.