Visiting Spilberk castle took quite a while, but there was still much to see in Brno. I am glad I had a long weekend here, otherwise there wouldn’t have been enough time to explore the city some more. Brno is full of churches and another one we saw on the way down from the castle was the church of St. Thomas and the Moravian gallery next door.
Church of St. Thomas and Moravian Gallery @Brno
But it was not these buildings, which interested me but rather the huge horse statue in front.
Equestrian Statue of Margrave Jobst of Luxembourg @Brno
I have never heard about Margrave Jobst before, who was Margrave of Moravia but also Holy Roman Emporer for a year at least. So I might miss the finer points on why he deserves a statue, but I do like the look of it. We walked further and passed underneath Mrak/The Cloud behind the Hotel International. It’s a neat space to rest for a while.
Mrak/The Cloud @Brno
The Villa Tugendhat is like the proverbial unicorn. Everyone has heard about it, but nobody knows anyone who has ever been inside. The villa, built by Mies van der Rohe, is a short walk from the center. Basically everything is within walking distance in Brno, which makes the city a real pleasure to explore. Since it was impossible to get tickets we headed to the Villa Löw-Beer first. I’d read somewhere that sometimes the garden between the villas are open and you can get to see the Villa Tugendhat at least closer from outside. That turned out to be true.
There was not much to see outside the Villa Löw-Beer, but once inside you can walk right through the garden and suddenly the fence between the villas was open. So of course we strolled right through.
Villa Löw-Beer from outside @Brno
Entry into the gardens is free of charge and appeared to be quite popular with the locals.
Villa Tugendhat @Brno
side view @Villa Tugendhat
As you can see there were people walking around the stairs, which were closed to the public and must therefore be part of the tour. So it’s not a legend that you can get tickets, it seems to be possible for some.
Villa Tugendhat with visitors @Brno
Since a tour of the Villa Tugendhat was out of the question we decided to give the Villa Löw-Beer a shot. These two villas belong together anyway, because the daughter of the Löw-Beer family married Fritz Tugendhat. So basically she just moved next door. But they didn’t live here long. Mies van der Rohe showed the Tugendhats the first design in 1928, 10 years later both families fled Czechoslovkia before the oncoming Nazis. Except for Alfred Löw-Beer, the father, who died in 1939 under unknown circumstances.
best place to relax @Villa Tugendhat
After the garden tour we headed to the Villa Löw-Beer, for which one can easily get a ticket. Once inside we understood. It’s a beautiful building, but really not much to see. Yours, Pollybert
entrance @Villa Löw-Beer
