Villa Stuck will close on February 11, 2024, for at least a year and a half. This hits the Munich art and exhibition scene hard, as the largest of the three important city museums – the Munich City Museum – will also close at the beginning of 2024, although for much longer. Unlike the city museum, Villa Stuck does not have to share its fate of seven years of travel in the form of occasional guest appearances in other institutions. Villa Stuck receives an interim.
A place has already been found where museum director Michael Buhrs and his team can at least show temporary exhibitions: a commercial building at Goethestrasse 54. It belongs to the project development company Legat Living. Of course, this will hardly be able to replace the tourist attraction that the historic Villa Stuck represents for Munich.
The painter Franz von Stuck built it in 1897/98 and 1914/15 and designed it as a total work of art. It was last completely renovated and supplemented with extensions from 1999 to 2004. Now the building technology is apparently outdated again. It is said that renovations are necessary on the facades to maintain the substance. And apparently fire protection and security technology no longer meet current requirements. “The installed technical systems have reached the end of their usability,” reports the city.
Around 14 million euros are now being invested in this. The budget also includes improvements to accessibility. The city council is expected to approve the release of the funds on November 29th. The reopening of the villa is currently planned for summer 2025.