Geymüllerschloessel

The Geymüllerschlössel is a tiny castle (Viennese Schlössel or Schlössl, less commonly Schlösschen ) in Vienna’s 18th district, Währing, in the cadastral municipality of Pötzleinsdorf.It is located to the north of the Pötzleinsdorfer Schlosspark.

Geymüllerschlössel hosted a series of exhibits that focused on modern design interventions and cross-time juxtapositions.With Time & Again, London designer Michael Anastassiades alluded to Sobek’s collection of ancient Viennese clocks, while The Stranger Within by Studio Formafantasma dealt with the lure of the “exotic.”Back in 5 minutes, by Robert Stadler, was on the adaptability of the Biedermeier interior.The artist pair Clegg & Guttmann used Biedermeier paintings as a starting point for spectacular tableaus of furniture, objects, instruments, and materials in 2016, with Biedermeier reanimated.

The Geymüllerschlössel is named after the builder Johann Jakob Geymüller (1760-1834), the brother of Johann Heinrich Geymüller (1754-1824), the landlord and proprietor of the Pötzleinsdorfer Schloss.An anonymous architect constructed the “pleasure building” in 1808 with a blend of Gothic and oriental aesthetic features in line with the vogue of the period.The property was last owned by the Geymüller family’s nephew, Johann Heinrich von Geymüller-Falkner (also known as Johann Heinrich von Geymüller the Younger).

The building has been held by textile entrepreneur Isidor Mautner from 1888 (thus the name “Mautner-Villa”), who was forced to pledge it to the Austrian National Bank in 1929 owing to the dismal economic condition.The debt was transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbank in 1938, and private Jewish property was legally “aryanized” in 1944.Preservationists helped to avert a scheduled destruction during the National Socialist regime.The Austrian National Bank sold the now-derelict building to the Republic of Austria in 1948, with the director of the state printing works, Franz Sobek, paying the purchase price in foreign money and receiving a lifelong right of residency in exchange.Sobek kept his well-known watch collection there as well.Today, the Schlössel is a section of the MAK Museum for Applied Arts, which showcases the enormous clock collection of Dr. Franz Sobek and gives insight into the daily culture of the Empire and Biedermeier periods.The ” Schönbrunner yellow ” exterior painting of the villa was replaced at the end of the twentieth century by the rebuilt original color white.

Following significant investigation, a documentation room with substantial text and visual information opens in the Geymüllerschlössel in 2021.