Winternitzova vila

The villa was built by Adolf Loos and Karel Lhota in 1931 by the Prague lawyer JUDr. Josef Winternitz as a family villa for his wife Jenny Winternitzová, daughter Suzana and son Peter. It is Loos's last completed building and has many elements in common with Müller's villa, including the way of division (so-called raumplan), which was generally characteristic of Loos. The construction of the villa, including all preparations, plans and permits, took one year, and on September 9, 1932, the "Permit to use the building" was issued. The family lived in the villa until 1941, when they were forced under the pressure of racial persecution to transfer the villa to the Auswanderungsfond für Böhmen und Mähren (Emigration Fund). From this fund, the object was purchased by the municipality of Prague, which established a kindergarten in the villa. She resided here continuously until 1997. The whole family was transported to Terezín in 1943 and later to the Auschwitz concentration camp. JUDr. died in the gas chamber here as well immediately after his arrival. Josef Winternitz and his son Petr. Jenny Winternitz and daughter Suzana got a job in a transmission factory, where thanks to the heat from the machines they survived the winter until the end of the war. After the war, they returned to Prague, but never got to their family villa. Although the Czechoslovak State recognized their claim for the return of the villa and restored the ownership right for JUDr. Josef Winternitz, but he imposed an inheritance and millionaire's tax on the heiresses. The return of the villa was subject to the fulfillment of these payment conditions and was burdened by execution. Since Jenny and Suzana had no property or income and were unable to meet these conditions, they offered to donate the villa to the Czechoslovak state in return for the cancellation of executions and other claims that arose during the struggle to return the property. Jenny Winternitz ended the letter of donation by exclaiming "Good luck". They never looked at the villa again or talked about it in the family. The rest of the family only found out about the villa in 1991 when the restitution was being prepared. Neither Jenny nor Suzana received restitution. The family managed to reconstruct the villa only thanks to the immense energy and work of the grandson JUDr. Josef Winternitz Ing. Stanislav Cysara.