"Villa Medusa" shines in new splendor
Published:
On October 27, 2021, a public event was held to mark the completion of extensive renovation work at the Ernst-Hackel-Haus. After the house was opened one hundred and one years earlier - on October 31, 1920 - as the Ernst-Haeckel-Memoria-Museum, the "Villa Medusa" now shines again in new splendor. The event brought together sponsors, contributors and stakeholders. Members of the Haeckel family also attended the event. Public tours are again available on Nov. 4/18/Dec. 2, 2021 (4-6 p.m., free of charge) by appointment: ernsthackelhaus@uni-jena.de
The renovation work on the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus at the University of Jena, which began in 2017, has now been completed after four years of construction. The "Villa Medusa," where the biologist lived and worked from 1883 until his death in 1919, shines in new splendor. The residential character of the villa in Italian country house style can now be experienced again after more than 100 years. The refurbishment has brought the former sequence of rooms back to life. Based on the historical findings, the wall and ceiling paintings as well as floorboards were reconstructed. Four rooms on the upper floor were furnished with historic paper wallpaper that picks up on the original patterns. At the same time, the house was extensively modernized for scientific use.
The end of the renovation was celebrated on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, under the patronage of the President of Friedrich Schiller University, Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal. Guests included Ernst Haeckel's great-great-granddaughter, Mechthild Hauck, and Bernhard Reemtsma, chairman of the Hermann Reemtsma Foundation, which supported the renovation with 300,000 euros. The renovation, which cost a total of 3,240,000 euros, was also funded by the Federal Government's Special Program VIIII for the Protection of Monuments with 200,000 euros.