24. Karl Strobach’s Villa

24. Karl Strobach’s Villa

Fialova 14

The luxurious residence based on Georg Berger’s design for his patron Karl Strobach, the director of the paper mill in Olšany, was erected in 1920. The building served as a home as well as the headquarters of the paper mill. When Berger created the design, he applied his ornate style, inspired by elements of German country architecture such as lattice walls, characteristic shutters, turrets and garret roofs.

Karl Strobach Sr. also directed the paper mill but committed suicide in 1905 after a scandal broke out about the embezzlement of company money. His son was much more successful in his career. While directing the same paper mill, he modernised the production and expanded it to include the lucrative manufacture of cigarette paper. He became the general manager of a joint-stock company uniting paper mills throughout Moravia. He was friends with Berger and procured him several other projects on buildings in and around Šumperk. The villa served as a home only until 1945. It was turned into the Hana Benešová medical centre, named after the wife of the Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš.