Metzler Villa

The building was erected in 1906 as a residential building intended for the Otto family and Elisabet Metzler. It was designed by Walter Gropius. In his design, he used a construction method popular for the region – frame construction of the upper parts of gable walls and extensions. An entirely new idea produced by Gropius was the construction of the roof whose slopes cover a large part of the elevations but rise at the ends providing a cover for open terraces. The windows in the elevation are also quite innovative – although they are all rectangular, their dimensions differ dramatically. Some of them were installed vertically, the others horizontally. Until 1945 the house was owned by the Metzler family. After the Second World War the house was subject to renovation to satisfy the needs of its occupants. The terrace on the north side was converted into a bathroom, while the one on the south side was converted into a car garage. Since 1946 two German women had lived in the house that moved out to Germany in 1955. Then, the building was taken over by the Treasury. It served as a seat of Słupska Fabryka Mebli [Furniture Factory of Słupsk] – the villa housed company flats of the director and deputy director. In the 1970s the factory was taken over by Koszalińska Fabryka Mebli [Furniture Factory of Koszalin], and in the 1980s it became an independent branch: Drawska Fabryka Mebli [Furniture Factory of Drawsko]. At the end of the 1990s the building was taken over by Przedsiębiorstwo Przeróbki Mechanicznej Węgla Biskupice Sp. z o.o. [Biskupice Mechanical Processing of Coal Company] from Zabrze. Currently the villa comprises private flats. It is surrounded by a small garden and a park which harmonizes well with the Chopin Park situated on the other side of the river. Today the Metzler Villa is in a poor technical condition and requires extensive renovation.