Villa Braunbehrens, Historic villa in Kohlhof, Heidelberg, Germany
Villa Braunbehrens is a residential building in Art Nouveau style located on the Königstuhl ridge, about three kilometers southeast of Heidelberg's center. The structure features curved lines and decorative elements typical of this architectural movement.
The house was built between 1912 and 1914 from designs by a student of renowned architect Henry van de Velde. After World War II, composer Wolfgang Fortner used the building from 1945 as a music center.
The house is named after Anna Maria von Braunbehrens, a cousin of art patron Karl Ernst Osthaus, who had it built in 1912–14. From 1959 the restaurateur Karl Ehmann ran Café Ehmann here, a destination for winter sports visitors; its tiled stoves and wood panelling date from that period.
The villa stands empty since March 2016, when sculptor Klaus Horstmann-Czech, its tenant since 1985, moved out; there is no public access or guided tour. It sits on the Königstuhl ridge at the Kohlhof, three kilometres southeast of Heidelberg's old town, above the existing housing at the forest edge. The site is reached on foot; the slope and the outlying location should be planned for.
The estate once stood near a ski jump and rehabilitation clinic, making it a gathering spot for winter sports enthusiasts. This proximity to recreational activities strongly shaped the site during the post-war years.
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