Zprávy památkové péče 2013, 73(4):328-334

Exceptional architectural ensemble of the villa and garden of Franz Schnöbling in Strančice

Tereza Hrubá, Šárka Koukalová

Among the incorporated gardens of villa architecture designed by prominent architects and which were created close to Prague, and which greatly influenced the urban structure of the particular sites, one such site of paramount importance is unknown and has even been neglected by experts until recently - the residence of Franz Schnöbling (1885-1949) in Strančice, a popular villa location close to Říčany.
This builder was one of the leading entrepreneurs in the field of pharmacies and cosmetics, and his company was one of the largest of its kind in Prague. The villa was designed in late classicist modernism style by the Prague architect and builder Tomáš Šašek in 1929. A distinctive landscape park (garden) gradually emerged on the extensive grounds around the villa (7.8 hectares) in the first half of the 1930's. It was designed by Otokar Fierlinger (1888-1941) and emphasized working with the terrain and a balanced representation of species with respect to the natural character of the surrounding landscape.
The unknown and neglected Strančice residence of Franz Schnöbling can be considered a valuable monument in the sense of the Florence Charter, the International Convention for the Protection of Monuments of Garden Art. The extensive garden is a unique example of domestic creation of the interwar period and which ties into the American and English landscape school.
Given the great importance of the integrity of the preserved grounds in the context of Czech architecture of the 1920's and 30's, and because of the threat to the heritage park in the context of the business intentions of the current owner, the Central Bohemia Regional Office in Prague of the National Heritage Institute, in cooperation with the Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, v. v. i. Průhonice, decided on 21 November 2012 to submit a proposal to the Czech Ministry of Culture to declare the entire grounds as a cultural heritage property.

Keywords: Strančice, Franz Schnöbling, villa, garden, Otokar Fierlinger, interwar architecture

Published: December 1, 2013  Show citation