Threatened with decay: But the "Villa Max" case is still in court

Created: 08/01/2022, 20:00

By: Volker Ufertinger

Abandoned to decay: the listed Villa Max in the Ammerland district of Münsingen.

The owners have appealed against a judgment of the Bavarian Constitutional Court.

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The Villa Max case is still before the court.

A new "Task Force" of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments systematically records, inventories and categorizes the threatened architectural heritage of the Free State.

Münsing

– Nothing has been heard about Villa Max for a long time.

That's not necessarily a good sign.

Every day that passes, the ravages of time gnaw a little more at the old house, which the painter Gabriel von Max once lived in and which the current owners do nothing to preserve.

The villa had already been demolished several times, which the authorities forbade with reference to its listed status.

They complained about that.

The case is currently before the court again.

The most recent lawsuit against the Free State regarding the monument status was dismissed by the Bavarian Constitutional Court in a judgment dated July 16, 2020.

The owners have appealed against this.

The district office tries to save what can be saved.

The authority has won the right in court to send a building inspector inside the house.

In the event that the structure of the building is endangered, the owner (the so-called builder) is asked to take action.

If necessary, the authority will take over the repair work and invoice the costs.

As the spokeswoman for the district office, Marlis Peischer, reports, the date for the assessment of the house is still pending this year.

But: “In recent years it has been shown that the building envelope is intact.

The roof is tight, the windows are closed.”

The State Office for the Preservation of Monuments considers the villa to be something very special.

"It still forms a vivid testimony to the life and work of the artist and is also an important part of the history of the villa and artist culture on Lake Starnberg," writes press spokeswoman Juliane Grimm.

They do not accept the argument put forward by the owners' lawyers that the 19th-century famous Gabriel von Max did not live in the house for very long.

That's not the point.

Architecturally, the house on Seeuferstrasse is one of the very rare late-classicist country houses.

"We would be happy if a solution could be found to save this monument, which the owners are legally obliged to preserve."

In any case, the Villa Max is a case for the new "Task Force" of the State Office, which systematically records, inventories and categorizes the threatened architectural heritage of the Free State.

The aim is to bring together stakeholders who want to support monuments to find possible solutions.

But what if the owner is not interested?

Ursula Scriba, who, as former chairwoman of the Ostuferschutzverband, campaigned for the preservation of the villa for years, has her doubts as to whether the "task force" can do anything in this case.

Documenting is one thing, rescuing is another.

"My expectations are low." She doesn't believe that the owners will change their minds after more than 25 years.

"Nevertheless, one should not give up the villa as a matter of principle." Scriba "still hopes for an end to this absurd situation".

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