Villa Römer
The Villa Römer (also Haus Frankenberg ) is a historic villa in Leverkusen - Opladen .
history
The building was built in 1905 on behalf of the manufacturer Max Römer, who came to Opladen in 1865 at the age of ten. His father had founded a Turkish red dyeing factory there, which Römer took over in 1890. The architect Paul Linder from Ohligs provided the plans for the building . The villa was used as the residence of the builder Max Römer and his wife from the completion of construction until 1923. During this time, the then still independent town of Opladen had plans to set up a hospital for women and children there. The negotiations failed because Max Römer demanded a purchase price that was too high for the city.
In 1923 the Solingen entrepreneur Richard Linder acquired the building and the property, as Römer and his wife moved to Stuttgart , where he died in 1925. As early as 1930 he sold it again to the Barmer Bankverein in Solingen. He sold the building to the city of Opladen in 1933 and Villa Römer was used as the town hall. The building's parks were made accessible to the public, but they were closed again in 1939 when the town hall moved into the building of the former Aloysianum and the Rhein-Wupper district bought the villa with the entire park and set up an administrative headquarters there.
The house remained intact during World War II and was the seat of the British military government from 1945 to 1946 .
In 1975 the building came into the possession of the city of Leverkusen through municipal reorganization .
In 1980 the state curator prevented the demolition of the coach house, which was repaired and sold to private customers. The Villa Römer was completely renovated in 1985/86.
In 1986 there were negotiations between Oberstadtdirektor Krupp and the board of the Stadtgeschichtliche Vereinigung Leverkusen eV, and the city archive was assigned the ground floor and basement of the house. This was done with the proviso that a city history documentation center was set up there. This was opened on July 23, 1986 by Lord Mayor Horst Henning . Since then, the Villa Römer has also been known as the “House of City History” and is the venue for exhibitions that deal with the history of Leverkusen. The city's green space office was also located on the upper floors from the mid-1980s until 2004, when it was moved to the buildings on the state horticultural show site in Wiesdorf.
The budget security concept of the Leverkusen city council envisaged closing the Villa Römer in 1994. The three Leverkusen history associations founded the Villa Römer working group and agreed to continue the documentation center on their own responsibility. A corresponding contract was signed with the city of Leverkusen in 1996.
Surname
The architect Paul Linder gave the building the name "Haus Frankenberg", which he chose from an old house and hallway name. The citizens of Opladen, however, named the building "Villa Römer" after its first owner; this designation has prevailed to this day.
History of the property
The property on the steep bank of the Wupper, on which the villa and the park are laid out, was already in use beforehand. As early as 1816, Georg Freiherr von Hauer , the first district administrator in the district of Opladen , established his residence and official residence there. He kept this place of residence even after it was merged with the Solingen district and the administration moved there in 1819. The property was then popularly known as von Hauers Berg or Landratsberg . The property was later sold to the Ulenberg entrepreneurial family, from whom it passed to Max Römer at the beginning of the 20th century. This later had the old dilapidated buildings tear down.
Permanent exhibition
The Leverkusen history associations have worked with the Leverkusen City Archives to develop a concept for a permanent exhibition on the history of the city, which was opened in 2011. Donations are required to set up and operate the exhibition, as no city funds can be made available for this.
Bayer factory painted by Otto Bollhagen
exhibition
Staircase of the Villa Römer
Resident historical societies
Three history societies have had their offices in Villa Römer since 1986: Bergischer Geschichtsverein , Leverkusen-Niederwupper Department, eV, Opladener Geschichtsverein von 1979 eV, Leverkusen, Stadtgeschichtliche Vereinigung eV, Leverkusen. Together with the city of Leverkusen, the three associations founded the “House of City History, Leverkusen - Villa Römer Association” with the aim of ensuring that the building can continue to function as a documentation center for the city's history and to set up the permanent exhibition “Leverkusen Periods” on the first floor of the house . The history associations also regularly present temporary exhibitions on topics related to the history of the city and hold events in the rooms of the villa.
Web links
- Information about Villa Römer at Leverkusen.com
- Website of the Leverkusen-Niederwupper department of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein
- Website of the Opladen History Society from 1979
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 26.2 " N , 6 ° 59 ′ 47.8" E
