Prague 10 has not yet decided what to do with the villa of industrialist Kolben

Prague - Prague 10 has not yet decided what to do with the villa of industrialist Emil Kolben in Vinohrady. It fully acquired it in 2014 and unveiled a memorial plaque on it, part of the house is rented out. This was stated by Prague 10 spokesman Vít Novák in response to a query from ČTK. Opposition councilor Jana Komrsková (independent, elected by the Greens) criticizes the underutilization of the villa. A year earlier, Prague 10 purchased half of the twin villa of the Čapek brothers for 44 million, and next year it plans to open a museum there.

Part of Kolben's villa is rented out for residential purposes. "No decision has yet been made by the municipal authority regarding its future use," Novák stated. According to opposition councilor Jana Komrsková (independent, elected by the Greens), only minimal money is being spent on the care of the villa, and its use and accessibility to the public is not even included in the current council's program declaration.

According to Michal Kočí, who is dealing with the fate of the villa, the villa has only come into the spotlight of politicians during the election campaign, when they promised its accessibility to the public. "A similar fate has befallen the former Waldes Museum, which was established in 1916 in Vršovice by Emil Kolben's contemporary, industrialist Jindřich Waldes. The museum’s premises do not resemble their famous founder at all and are not fully utilized," he told ČTK.

Before 2014, the municipal district owned two-thirds of the villa, and the last third was bought for 9.5 million crowns. The then mayor and current councilor Bohumil Zoufalík (Independents for Prague 10 - Movement for a Better Ten) stated at the time that the municipality would use the villa for representative purposes.

Currently, the nearby half of the twin villa of the Čapek brothers, which the municipality acquired a year before Kolben's villa, is being renovated. Most of the original furnishings have been preserved in Karel Čapek's residence, and the municipality therefore wants to set up a museum for small groups of visitors there. It aims to open it at the end of 2018, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Čapek's death.