Lentz Villa, Aleja Wojska Polskiego 84, Szczecin

The Lentz Villa, also called the August Lentz Villa, stands at Aleja Wojska Polskiego 84 in Szczecin. After renovation in 2018-2019 it is home to a municipal cultural institution that runs tours of the interiors, exhibitions and events.

A manufacturer's house

The villa was built in 1888-1889 in the eclectic Second Empire style to a design by Max Drechsler for August Lentz, director of the Szczecin Fireclay Products Factory. The lower part of the facade is clad in Silesian sandstone and the upper part in red clinker brick. The facade is decorated with a balcony with side columns of Swedish granite that support a massive pediment. The heritage register describes the villa's style as Neo-Baroque.

Interiors

On the ground floor there is a two-storey hall with marbling and stucco, stucco-decorated drawing rooms and a dining room with carved panelling. On the upper floor are a breakfast room with wooden wall and ceiling lining, bedrooms and a Moorish-style room, which was originally a bathroom and was turned into a living room in 1912. The ceiling linings and panelling were made by the Berlin firms Vogt & Co. and O. Völcker.

The building's fortunes

From the end of the 19th century the villa changed owners. In the 1930s it passed into the ownership of the city, was used by the NSDAP and the military, and after the war by Soviet troops. In 1947-1949 it housed a branch of the Apostolic Administration of the Catholic Church from Gorzów Wielkopolski, and in 1950-2008 the building belonged to the Youth Palace (Pałac Młodzieży). It then stood empty for a long time. Since 2021 it has housed the cultural institution Willa Lentza.

What to see

Visits can be made individually or with a guide. The permanent exhibitions are an exhibition on the history of the villa, “Willa Lentza. Historia (od)nowa”, on level -1, and “Sfinks. Hommage au Carré Noir” in the villa's garden. The gallery on the third level and the historic rooms on the second serve temporary exhibitions, so the programme changes. The villa also organises concerts and other events.

Practical information

• Address: aleja Wojska Polskiego 84, 70-482 Szczecin.
• Visiting hours change depending on the month. In the schedule published on the website, individual visits take place from Tuesday to Saturday. The current schedule, dates of guided tours and closures are given on willa-lentza.pl under Zwiedzanie (Visiting).
• Tickets are bought on bilety.willa-lentza.pl or at the ticket office, which opens half an hour before the first tour.
• Group visits of more than 15 people must be arranged with the ticket office by email.
• Nearby are the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic (about 0.4 km) and Jasne Błonia.