Beneš's villa in Sezimovo Ústí will be acquired by the Hussite Museum in Tábor

Sezimovo Ústí - The Beneš villa in Sezimovo Ústí will be acquired by the Hussite Museum in Tábor. Today’s Právo reported this. After more than 50 years, the legacy of the wife of former President Edvard Beneš, Hana Benešová, will be fulfilled. In her will from November 1973, she bequeathed the villa in Sezimovo Ústí to the then Museum of the Hussite Revolutionary Movement in Tábor. However, following her death in December 1974, the museum's founding body, the District National Committee in Tábor, transferred the entire property to the Office of the Government.

The villa then became a recreational facility for senior politicians and officials. The government office has now decided to hand the villa over to the Hussite Museum in Tábor. "The decision is based on a conducted needs analysis and is part of the organizational changes of the new leadership of the Government Office," said the spokesperson of the Government Office, Karla Mráčková, to Právo. According to her, even previous governments did not use the villa for the recreational stays of politicians or officials.

Gradually, the managers have made the villa accessible and connected it to the memorial of Edvard Beneš, which is located on its grounds. "The Office does not engage in museum activities by principle, so for the further development of this activity, it contacted a competent organization and, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, initiated the transfer of the premises to the Hussite Museum in Tábor," added Mráčková.

The Hussite Museum in Tábor welcomes the transfer of the villa, according to Právo. Its director, Jakub Smrčka, recalls that the museum has sought the villa since the early 1990s. Since 2001, the Government Office, in cooperation with the museum, has made the villa accessible to the public during some state holidays. From 2023, the villa has been open to visits in the summer season during regular opening hours. The Hussite Museum now wants to open the villa even more to the public, expand the exhibition, introduce more professionally focused guided tours, and educational programs for schools. "We are also preparing a garden celebration this year to commemorate the birthday of President Beneš on May 28," said museum director Jakub Smrčka to Právo.

The villa in Sezimovo Ústí, situated at the confluence of the Kozský stream and the Lužnice River, was built for the Beneš couple in the early 1930s according to the design of architect Petr Kropáček. The then-Minister of Foreign Affairs and his wife were inspired by southern French houses. Although the villa is not among the most significant avant-garde designs, its architect used several progressive elements in both the exterior and interior, such as built-in wardrobes. The adaptation of the builders to their new home also took the form of modifications to the original design. The final shape of the villa was imparted in 1937 by architect Otokar Fierlinger, who is also the author of the modification of the extensive garden.