The building and its valuable interior décor has been preserved in good condition.

History

The villa was built in 1895 as the residence of Max Laue, owner of the oil mill which was founded at that time. It is part of the complex consisting of a factor and outbuilding connected to the villa (which formerly house the seat of the administration of the plant). In 1910, Willy Henning acquired ownership of the plant with the villa and all the buildings considered as part of the property. In 1922, the company opened a new plant near a train station. Henning remained the owner of the villa until the end of World War 2. During that period, the villa adjoined a garden enclosed by a decorative metal fence. After 1945, the interior of the villa and outbuildings was adapted for use as offices. Until 1976, the complex was the seat of the Municipal National Council. Since 1976, the ground floor has housed the Municipal and Communal Public Library, and the first floor — a Civil Registry.

Description

The complex consisting of the villa and former factory of Max Laue is located in the nineteenth-century town centre, to the east of its old part, on the south side of the main artery, today known as Mickiewicza Street. The main façade of the villa overlooks the street, facing the north. To the south, the main body of the villa is joined with the outbuilding situated at the eastern boundary of the plot; the outbuilding adjoins one of the factory buildings.

The Renaissance Revival villa was built on a rectangular floor plan and together with the outbuilding forms the shape of the letter “L”. The north-western corner (between the street and the entrance to the parcel) is accentuated by a round turret. An avant-corps emphasises the centre of the front façade. To the east of the avant-corps, there is a veranda consisting of two parts perpendicular to each other; one of the parts adjoins the end wall of the adjacent building. The two-storey villa has a basement and is covered with a low gable roof. The first floor of the main body is much lower than the ground floor; the roof is concealed by a low attic. The cylindrical corner turret is topped with a dome featuring a spire. The outbuilding with an additional attic storey is separated from the main body with a square turret topped with a mansard roof.

The villa is a brick and plastered building; its roofs are covered with roofing felt; the tower domes with sheet metal.

The façades of the building are symmetrical. They are divided by socle and string-course cornices and window sill cornices on each storey. The façade is topped with a crowning cornice. The top sections of the main façade and western side façade of the main body feature a pronounced cornice with corbels and an attic. The window openings on the ground floor in both parts of the building are topped with semicircular arches; the upper floor levels feature rectangular windows. The north and west façade on the ground floor is covered with fairly flat rustication, the segments of which, with mottled plaster, accentuate the corners of the building and reveals of window openings. The keystones in the lintels of these windows are decorated with acanthus leaves; the window sills are accentuated by a balustrade. The openings on the first floor are framed by Corinthian pilasters. The symmetry of the four-axial front façade is highlighted by the central two-axial avant-corps topped with a triangular pediment. Large horizontal windows adjoining the avant-corps of the veranda are framed by Tuscan columns. The western three-axial side façade features the main entrance to the villa; the door opening topped with a semicircular arch is framed at the sides by rusticated pilasters supporting the triangular pediment. The second entrance is located on the rear façade. The corner turret is decorated with a large artistic crest on the first floor.

The interior of the main body features a two-and a-half-bay layout with a half-turn staircase in the rear suite of rooms and an outbuilding at the corner. The corridor features the preserved original marble stairs and decorative terrazzo floor; the staircase — wooden ornamental balustrade; and many rooms — historic door joinery. The front bay of the villa occupies three representative rooms arranged in an enfilade. The first two from the east feature the preserved lavish Rococo Revival stucco décor of the ceiling and crown mouldings. The corner room is connected to the interior of the turret, from which it was separated with a wooden balustrade. The room in the central avant-corps was probably used as a drawing room. The largest room in the whole villa at the end of the corridor served as a dining room. It is covered with a decorative wooden ceiling with a wide crown moulding and the large preserved chandelier featuring a structure made of two suspended intersecting rods entwined with metal vine shoots, among which are thirteen bulbs with decorative shades. Other historic furnishings have survived in the interior of the veranda accessible from the dining room. One section of the veranda is decorated similarly to the garden gazebo with a bench, artistic motif of a shell, and oil landscape painting affixed to the wall. The preserved stained glass window features floral and faunal motifs. The large room on the south side of the dining room (connected to the interior of the outbuilding) is decorated with stucco similar to that in the interior of the front suite of rooms.

The structure can be visited during the opening hours of the library.

compiled by Maciej Słomiński, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Szczecin, 22-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Mitelski M., Willa, ul. Mickiewicza 32, Dębno Lubuskie, dokumentacja historyczno-architektoniczna, PKZ Szczecin 1986, mps w WUOZ Szczecin oraz w archiwum NID OT w Szczecinie
• Neudamm, die Industrie- und Handelsstadt der nordwestlichen Neumark, Neudamm 1927
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury i budownictwa, opr. M. Słomiński, 2000 r., mps w WUOZ Szczecin