Urban villa rue des Ptolémées 10
The city villa at 10 rue des Ptolémées (Arabic: Sharia Batalsa 10) in Alexandria was built in 1926 by the French architect Max Edrei (1889–1972) for the cotton merchant Max Rolo (1888–1959), who came from a Sephardic family who lived in the city for a long time. and his family in what was then the Greek quarter. The Goethe Institute in Alexandria has been located in the largely preserved building since 1973 .
The building was built in the neo-Gothic style and with clear elements of Art Deco by the architect Max Edrei, who was in demand in affluent circles at the time and who also oriented himself towards the surrounding city villas . Since the villa, like the neighboring buildings, was built on a 13 meter high rubble hill from building remains, the age of which goes back to the time of Roman building, the foundation required its own construction technology. For this purpose, shafts as wide as a foundation were dug into the subsoil up to the actual building site, which, like everywhere in Alexandria, consists of the former seabed and then filled with lean concrete, because the rubble structures under the building prevented the work with supporting pillars.
Edrei, who was married to an Italian and was otherwise not unaffected by Italian architecture, had some of the interior furnishings done by Italian craftsmen. Their work includes the coffered ceiling and the paneling in the reception hall, which have been preserved to this day, mosaic windows in the representation area and individual wrought-iron works.
While the representative rooms such as the music room and dining room were on the ground floor, the living room and bedroom of the couple and their two children were on the first floor. The recessed attic was intended to accommodate guests. The resulting roof terrace was used for laundry, among other things, and the children could play on it.
After the Alexandria family left the Alexandria family in 1956 due to domestic political developments and in particular the growing hostility towards Jews under Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, the house stood empty for four years. Since Max Rolo's widow was dependent on the proceeds from the sale of the villa, she looked for a buyer, who found herself in the cotton wholesaler Ibrahim Bayoumi El-Wakil (1911-1984). However, the price was very low at 20,000 Egyptian pounds.
The new owners made little changes to the previous use of the rooms. El-Wakil, who had bought the house for his wife and four daughters in 1960, was forced to sell the house to a European customer in 1968 due to economic problems.
Both the West German Goethe Institute , which at the time had its seat in the nearby Rue des Pharaons 15 and was represented by its director Anton Regenberg, as well as a diplomatic representative of the GDR were interested . According to an anecdote, the two interested parties are said to have seen each other while viewing, and this encounter is said to have accelerated the decision-making process in the West German Foreign Office.
The villa was first rented for 300 LE per month, with a four-year purchase option that was redeemed on December 5, 1973: The FRG acquired the building for 400,000 DM ; the current market value is estimated at around 10 million euros .
With the move in of the Goethe Institute and the associated change in use, numerous renovations were necessary, most recently a thorough renovation in 2001.
The representative rooms on the ground floor are still used today for events - for example concerts - and the original library, which is only separated from the reception hall by a wrought-iron grille and which can be expanded if necessary, is still used as such.