Theater an der Winkelwiese
| Villa Tobler / Theater an der Winkelweise | |
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| General information | |
| Type | Theater, mansion and park |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical architecture |
| Location | Zürich-Hottingen, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland |
| Address | Winkelwiese 4, CH-8001 Zürich |
| Coordinates | 47°22′12.59″N 8°32′47.98″E / 47.3701639°N 8.5466611°E |
| Construction started | 1853 |
| Completed | 1853 |
| Owner | City of Zürich |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Gustav Wegmann (1853); Hans Heinrich Conrad von Muralt, exterior, and Eduard Berlepsch-Valendas, interior (1900); Jakob Zweifel (1964, basement rebuilt to house the theater) |
Villa Tober, also known as the Theater an der Winkelwiese, is a protected building in Zürich-Hottingen that comprises the mansion built in 1853, and a public park.
The villa (or theater) is situated in Zürich-Hottingen, between Kunsthaus Zürich and Forchplatz in Zürich-Weinegg. The area houses also the public park, and the Theater an der Winkelwiese in the basement. Public transport is provided by the Zürich Tram routes 3, 5, 8 and 9 (Kunsthaus) and by the bus line 31 (Winkelwiese).
On behalf of the bank manager Jakob Emil Tobler-Finsler and his son Gustav Adolf Tobler-Blumer, the Swiss architect Gustav Albert Wegmann built the mansion at Winkelwiese in the late Classicist style in 1853. Wegmann's major works include the Bahnhofstrasse and the greenhouse of the Old Botanical Garden, Zürich. In 1900 a far-reaching reconstruction of the house was carried out by Hans Heinrich Conrad von Muralt, and the interior was designed by Eduard Berlepsch-Valendas. Today the sumptuous Art Nouveau interior is one of the nicest in Zürich. One of the first landscape gardens in Zürich is an essential part of the mansion, with its typical winding paths and the surrounding walls. New jewelry items came into the garden when it was rebuilt around 1900: noteworthy are the dragon fountain (Drachenbrunnen) with the gold-colored mosaic round fontaine basin, and the youth figure (Jünglingsfigur) by Richard Kissling, under the pergola next to the fountain. In 1913 the Mertens brothers modernized the southern garden in the then new architectural style whose characteristic elements are straight ways, cut hedges and the rhythm between open, colored flower beds and shady, green areas. When the property was sold to a general contractor in 1951, the squalor and savagery of the gardens began. The demolition and the planned development of the land in the early 1960s, suggested a large public opposition. That's why, in 1964 the property was acquired by the city of Zürich. The villa was subsequently used by the Theater an der Winkelwiese and by the acting ccademy, and several rooms were loaned to artists. Since 1979 the garden is open to the public. In 1983 a playground has been set up at the request of the Hottingen district. There, fortunately, the garden architecture was not interrupted by the fountain, but only showered and covered with cement slabs.
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Wikipedia