Villa Regenstreif

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Villa Regenstreif in the interwar period
Villa Regenstreif
View of the property from Pötzleinsdorfer Strasse today. The lantern and the wall are still original
Entrance gate Pötzleinsdorfer Straße, above the gate the monogram of Fritz and Johanna Regenstreif

The Villa Regenstreif was a villa in the 18th district of Vienna , Währing . The area bordered on Pötzleinsdorfer Straße 36-38 in the south and on Starkfriedgasse 15 in the north. The manor house was located roughly in the middle of the property, which was elongated in north-south direction.

History of the house

The villa was commissioned by the industrialist Friedrich ("Fritz") Regenstreif ( Czernowitz November 14, 1868 - May 8, 1941 Vienna) from 1913 to 1917 by the architect Friedrich Ohmann in a romantic style with slightly baroque elements, especially in the design of the roofs, built. The furnishings of the manor house were splendid, the spacious salons and private rooms were all clad with artistically designed wooden panels and marble slabs. In the basement there was, among other things, a separate cinema, a bowling alley and an orangery .

The villa was surrounded on all sides by a 2 hectare garden with trees, many sculptures adorned the facade and the garden. The outbuildings included the gatehouse on Pötzleinsdorfer Straße, a garage building with its own workshop and a glass palm house, both on Starkfriedgasse, a Chinese pavilion near the manor house and a swimming pool.

In March 1941 Fritz Regenstreif was forced because of his Jewish descent to sell his villa to the National Socialist German Labor Front (DAF), far below its real value ; Regenstreif died that same year. Fritz Regenstreif's wife Johanna, b. Ortlieb (Munich December 12, 1877 - June 22, 1934 Vienna) was no longer alive. Both children Paul Regenstreif, b. 1899 in Munich, and Ellen Illich (with her three children, including Ivan Illich ), b. 1901 in Munich, had to flee in 1942.

Fearing that it would have to pass the booty on to Magda Goebbels , who had also shown interest in the villa, the DAF immediately began transporting the valuable inventory to Berlin. The wood paneling of the ceilings and walls was removed with hoes and burned, the remaining interior design was completely looted, and finally small office cubicles were provisionally set up, which were used by the NSDAP organization National Socialist People's Welfare from 1943 until the liberation of Vienna in 1945. The organization wanted to set up a rest home for officers disabled in the war in the villa.

From 1945 to 1955 the area was in the US sector of Vienna . The building was rented from the United States and used as an officers club for officers of the United States Air Force .

At the end of the restitution proceedings , which ran from 1948 to 1953, Fritz Regenstreif's heirs received back the villa, which had been spared from the effects of the war, but had been completely devastated and unusable on the inside. With a heavy heart, the family decided to sell the property in 1958.

In the early 1960s, the villa was briefly discussed as the Federal President's service villa ; at that time the office was held by Adolf Schärf . On March 17, 1964, a fire broke out during renovation work, which led to the demolition of the building. Today there is a student dormitory on the site.

The gatehouse (Pötzleinsdorfer Straße 36), a water basin (the former fountain), a pavilion, walls and some lanterns have been preserved to this day.

History of the residents of the house

Grave of Fritz and Johanna Regenstreif at the Pötzleinsdorfer Friedhof

The builder Fritz Regenstreif had become wealthy as a timber industrialist in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His daughter Ellen Rose (Maexie) Illich, b. Regenstreif, and their three children Ivan, Mischa and Sascha lived in the villa, which they affectionately called "Pötz", from 1932 to 1942. Her son Ivan Illich achieved fame , who in his text Loss of World and Meat the scenic atmosphere of Pötzleinsdorf and his feelings and thoughts on March 10, 1938 - two days before the " Anschluss of Austria " - described (Illich was eleven years old at the time).

Grandfather Regenstreif was a hearty and funny gentleman who protected his family. He said to her: “As long as I live, you don't need to fear the Nazis.” With the help of his fortune, he was able to buy his family free from the Gestapo before the murder . The police in their leather uniforms came to inspect the area almost every week. It was a traumatic experience for the family. He gave his family support and security until he died. Then the family had to flee through Italy with false passports in a night-and-fog operation. Before that, she gave the Pötzleinsdorfer a farewell reception and gave away some of what she couldn't take with her on the run.

Fritz and Johanna Regenstreif's grave is located at the Pötzleinsdorfer Friedhof (group B, row 14, no. 156); On the tombstone, Fritz Regenstreif's death date is erroneously stated as May 3.

literature

Web links

Commons : Villa Regenstreif  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • [1] , history of the house on the Bokuheim website of the dormitory operator}

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.gotech.at/lale5/langenlebarn_5.html
  2. ↑ Press release decision No. 531/2009 http://de.nationalfonds.org/sites/dynamic743c.html?id=news20080117160614071
  3. ↑ Barbara Duden , Silja Samerski: On the death of the cultural critic Ivan Illich . In: Friday . dated December 13, 2002.

Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 28.1 ″  N , 16 ° 18 ′ 51.6 ″  E