History

The Villa Rosental is located in immediate vicinity to the park with the same name in one of the most beautiful quarters of Leipzig. The house is characterized by its glamour and location in a quiet and stylish surrounding in the Waldstraßen quarter – Waldstraßenviertel. The attractivity of the Villa Rosental is basically due to its proximity to the city centre.

The Villa was built by the merchant J.W Lustig as a residential building in 1872 . The architect Bruno Grimm who also designed the commercial thoroughfare »Barthels Hof« created the Villa in the architectural style of the historicism following Italian Renaissance style. The building belongs to the oldest architectural monuments in the Waldstraßen quarter and and was located next to the canal Pleißemühlgraben. Today it is filled in, but it will be reopened in future.

The Villa was deserted after World War II and was used as a residential building by several families. It housed a library for children and young people later on.

The Villa was deserted after World War II and was used as a residential building by several families. It housed a library for children and young people later on.

The Villa eventually fell into a state of disrepair in the eighties. The last inhabitants moved out due to the structural damage that got gradually worse and worse. When the Berlin Wall fell, the Villa like many other buildings didn’t have any owner. The derelict state of the house was gradually more noticeable. A lot of furnishings were stolen and sold or simply destroyed by vandalism in the nineties.

From 1995 it was partly inhabited and the Coachman’s House was completely derelict. In the years 2000/2001 a fundamental renovation was carried out. However, due to economic reasons, a lot of details were not faithfully restored or refurbished. That’s why the original light dome in the staircase, the old pyramidal furnaces, but also parts of the original parket floors with their rich ornamental decoration were not restored. In 2005 a readjustment of the ownership structure was taken into account after several changes in ownership and due to the insolvency of the last owner. In 2006 the Villa Rosental moved into a new Jugendstil villa – Art Nouveau villa- thus changing from its previous business location in the Liviastr. where it had been located for ten years into this stately home.

Nowadays the Villa Rosental provides a great variety of leisure activities both for private and business costumers with one event service, a dance school, a relaxation centre and a language school in a historic setting and relaxed atmosphere.