The famous Hugo Semler house, where history was written, will be opened to visitors for the last time before the major renovation Company | News | Pilsen Gossip

The city wants to renovate the building and move the Patton Museum there. The thirty-tonne Sherman tank, which was donated to Pilsen by the grandson of General Patton, should also be moved to the yard from its station in the zoo. Moving the tank will involve major traffic maneuvers. The tank itself is then lifted by a crane over the building and the roofs of the building into the courtyard of the reconstructed building. Inside the building, there should be an experiential exhibition with a simulation of the raid on Škodovka.

“In the budget, we have an amount of 296 million crowns ready for the complete reconstruction of Klatovská 19. I am convinced that it is an investment that makes sense. It is not only an architecturally valuable apartment by Loos, but the history of Pilsen was also written in this house. And where else to commemorate historical moments than right here.” said the mayor Roman Zarzycky (YES). In 1939, the Semler family emigrated to Canada, and the house was taken over by the German occupiers, who set up a Wehrmacht headquarters there. At the end of the war, on May 6, 1945, the capitulation of the German garrison was signed in the men’s salon at 2:15 p.m. German general Georg von Majewski shot himself on the spot after signing the documents.

“Hugo Semler’s house is one of the two preserved interiors in Pilsen designed by the architect Adolf Loos, where guided tours were occasionally held several times a year, although it has not yet been reconstructed. The music room with walls lined with beautiful fantastiko marble and the built-in furniture veneered with elm wood looks absolutely stunning even in its original, one might say dusty, condition. I’m already looking forward to seeing them shine in their full glory.” says the deputy mayor for tourism Lucie Kantorová (YES).

At first glance, the rather inconspicuous building at Klatovská třída 19 was created by joining two houses, on the instructions of the prominent Pilsen industrialist Šimon Semler. His business included trading in construction timber and processing wire products in a factory in Vochov near Stříbra. He decided to set up his company’s headquarters at an address in the center of Pilsen, on the exuberantly expanding Klatovská třída.

On the ground floor of the house there were offices with a meeting room, followed by the family’s private spaces one floor above. And it was there that the interiors designed by the architect Adolf Loos were preserved, in the form of a marble music lounge for the family of Šimon’s eldest son Hugo, who decided to stay at this address. His younger brother Oskar later decided to rebuild the house at Klatovská 110, today known as Semler’s residence.

“Visitors will learn about what gramophones or RAF pilots have in common with the family on the tours on April 20 and 21, after which this historic house will be closed to the public for a longer period of time to be presented as the seat of the Museum of the Liberation of Pilsen after extensive reconstruction “ invites you to the last tours before the renovation Magdalena Blackmanager of the Adolf Loos Plzeň project.

The Semlers returned to Pilsen after the war, but left the republic again after 1948 and the rise of the communists. Their descendants live in Canada and Australia. Until 2002, the army was based at Klatovské 19, the building is currently owned by the city.

How much does the whole object change?

And what will the building look like after the renovation? “In the basement, he will guide the visitor through wartime Pilsen, show him the manufacture of weapons in Škodovce, and let him soak in the atmosphere of bombed Pilsen, which will be enhanced by a simulator of a war shelter. From wartime Pilsen, visitors ascend to a space with projections on the Pilsen Uprising, liberation and the end of the war in Pilsen and in Europe. People will learn about the stay of the American army in the west of Bohemia and the like,” said the deputy for education and tourism Lucie Kantorová (ANO).

On the first floor, visitors will be able to view luxury in the form of the restored First Republic interior of Adolf Loos. They will get to know his personality and the stories of the Pilsen families for whom he created. These were often Jewish businessmen. The famous Semler family lived in Klatovská.

According to the proposal, the second floor will be dedicated to the post-war atmosphere and skepticism about the new totality. Part of the exhibition will also focus on the Celebration of Freedom, World War II veterans, their stories and the presentation of the gifts they gave to the museum during their visits to Pilsen. The content page of the museum is prepared by Pilsen – TURISMUS, which is run by Patton Memorial Pilsen.