VILLA MAYER – HOTEL PANORAMA
INTRODUCTION
Hotel Panorama at No. 931 Dvořákova Street is one of the most distinctive buildings in the villa district that developed on the hillside above Jáchymov. Unlike most of the surrounding villas, some of which today struggle to find a use corresponding to their original purpose, this house has survived and continues to serve as a hotel.
The building was constructed in the late 1920s as Raimund Mayer's guesthouse. Its architect was Franz Rehn, a Jáchymov builder and designer who, over several decades, created a remarkable group of villas, guesthouses and other residential buildings on the slope of Šibeniční vrch.
The Mayer Villa was one of his later buildings. It was built at a time when the local villa district was already practically complete and when Jáchymov was trying to reconnect with the pre-war development of the spa industry and tourism.
The house is interesting not only for its history, but above all for its appearance. The relatively simple mass of the one-storey villa is complemented by a prominent polygonal turret, which gives the building its characteristic silhouette. Together with the steep hipped roof, it is one of the most distinctive features of today's Hotel Panorama.
DESCRIPTION
The Mayer Villa is a detached, one-storey building with an approximately square floor plan. Its basic form is relatively compact and, unlike some of Rehn's older villas, is not divided by numerous projections, bay windows or gables.
The most prominent element of the building is the polygonal turret projecting from one of its corners. The turret rises above the main body of the house and is topped by its own helmet-shaped roof. It is precisely the combination of the turret and the massive roof that creates the characteristic appearance of the entire building.
The main part of the house is covered by a steep hipped roof. Its prominent surface forms a substantial part of the overall silhouette of the building and at the same time corresponds to the way buildings in the mountainous environment of Jáchymov adapted to local climatic conditions.
The façade, by contrast, is relatively restrained. Its design is created mainly by simple, flat surrounds around the windows. Rehn therefore did not use the rich stucco decoration known from some of the older buildings in Jáchymov's villa district. The overall appearance of the house is created primarily by its mass, roof and corner turret.
In this respect, the Mayer Villa is an interesting example of the later period of Rehn's work. While, for example, his pre-war Villa Chromý makes use of prominent gables, bay windows, balconies and a viewing arcade, the Mayer house has a much calmer and more compact appearance.
At first sight, the building does not look like a large hotel. Rather, it resembles a larger family villa, which also corresponds to the original character of the building. It was a small guesthouse, not a large spa hotel.
The simplicity of the building is somewhat deceptive, however. Within a relatively small structure, Rehn managed to create a building that stands out clearly on the hillside thanks to its turret and steep roof.
BUILDER AND ARCHITECT
The client was Raimund Mayer, a Jáchymov hotelier whose name also appears in some sources in the variant Maier. For his new guesthouse, he chose a plot at the upper edge of the hillside, and in June 1929 Franz Rehn prepared the design for a building called Villa Mayer or Restaurant Mayer.
Mayer, however, was apparently not its only operator. A contemporary overview of Jáchymov from 1931 already lists Hotel Mayer among the local hotels and names Karl Vydra as its tenant. By that year at the latest, the house was therefore operating as a hotel, with its day-to-day operation handled by the tenant, while the building's name still recalled its builder.
In 1947, Hotel Mayer had ten beds. It was therefore not a competitor to the large Jáchymov spa hotels, but a smaller establishment that complemented the accommodation available in the developing villa district.
Franz Rehn
The building was designed by Franz Rehn, one of the most prominent figures in the architectural history of Jáchymov.
Rehn came to Jáchymov at the end of the 19th century and gradually worked his way up from a building apprentice to a designer, builder and entrepreneur. His works are scattered throughout the town, but the greatest concentration of his buildings can be found precisely on the slope of Šibeniční vrch.
On Dvořákova Street, for example, he designed the neighbouring Haus Heimat, No. 930, and the Mayer Villa, No. 931. Other buildings were then constructed on the surrounding slopes – Sonnenhof, Haus Braunstein, Waldfrieden, Almenrausch, Hohenstein, Haus Baldur, Phönix and a number of others.
The Mayer Villa is therefore not an isolated building. It is part of a larger ensemble that Rehn gradually created on this hillside.
HISTORY
The Mayer Villa was built at a time when Jáchymov had already experienced the greatest boom in pre-war villa construction.
Rehn's first buildings on the hillside were constructed before the First World War. Villa Chromý, for example, was built here in 1912–1914, and Villa Dagmar in 1913–1914. The war interrupted further development.
After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, construction activity on the hillside gradually resumed. Rehn built his own guesthouse, Sonnenhof, here, and in 1929 it was the turn of the Mayer Villa.
The project was prepared in June 1929, and specialist sources give 1929–1930 as the period of construction. Some contemporary tourist materials, however, also give the year 1932. Since the surviving project is already dated 1929, the first version appears more likely.
Originally, the house bore the name of its owner. The names Villa Mayer, Restaurant Mayer and Hotel Mayer can be found in the sources. Later, the name Panoráma came into use, from which today's name Hotel Panorama developed.
After the Second World War, not only the circumstances in the town changed, but also the ownership and use of many of the local houses. Rehn was expelled in 1945, and his architectural work remained in Jáchymov as a reminder of the pre-war appearance of the spa town.
The Mayer Villa, however, survived and, unlike many of the surrounding buildings, was not abandoned.
PRESENT DAY
Today the building is known as Hotel Panorama.
Its main part still retains the original character of Rehn's building. Although the property has undergone alterations and renovations over the decades, the basic mass of the one-storey villa, the steep hipped roof and the prominent corner turret have been preserved.
Today the hotel serves as accommodation and a restaurant. Its location at the upper edge of the hillside still provides what was important when it was built – a quiet setting, proximity to the forest and views over the Jáchymov valley.
The interior also contains some interesting historical elements. The hotel, for example, mentions a historic tiled stove dated to 1850 and a collection of historic sledges and carriages. However, there is no evidence that the stove was part of the original furnishings of the Mayer Villa.
From the point of view of preservation, Hotel Panorama is particularly interesting because it still exists as a functioning building. Of the many buildings that once formed the villa district on the slope of Šibeniční vrch, it is one of those that have survived and are still in use.
SURROUNDINGS
Hotel Panorama stands in a location that is interesting beyond the building itself.
Immediately behind the house is Šibeniční vrch, after which this part of the hillside was named. The historic execution site of Jáchymov was located here. During a field survey in 2014, a level area approximately 200 metres from the hotel was identified as its most likely location. It measures approximately 6 × 6.5 metres and rises roughly 3 to 3.5 metres above the surrounding terrain.
The hotel's location is also interesting from a tourist perspective. One of the paths from Panorama leads towards Dívčí skok, a popular excursion destination above Jáchymov. The site is associated with the vanished small castle of Braunstein and later became a destination for walks by spa guests.
Today, Hotel Panorama can therefore serve as the starting point for a short walk during which, within a few minutes, we can leave the town behind and reach the forest and places that recall several different periods of Jáchymov's history.
The villa itself, however, is the most important part.
It was built as a small guesthouse on the edge of the former spa villa district, designed by Franz Rehn, and with its simple floor plan, steep hipped roof and distinctive corner turret it represents one of the characteristic houses that still recall Jáchymov's architectural development in the 1920s.
The Villa Mayer became Hotel Mayer, then Panoráma, and today Hotel Panorama. The house itself, however, has not disappeared over the course of almost a century. It still stands on the hillside above Jáchymov – just as it did when Franz Rehn designed it for Raimund Mayer in 1929.
