Villa Merian - Modern-day History

Modern-day History

In 1967 the institution Christoph Merian Stiftung made the decision to lease the villa and the estate to the city of Basel, gratuitously for one hundred years, so that a botanical garden could be established within the grounds.

During the summer of 1980 Münchenstein was the host municipality for the 2nd Swiss exhibition for garden and Landscaping, which was named Grün 80. The exhibition was held in Brüglingen and also made benefit of the entire estate grounds. The remains of the former exhibition complex, the park and its gardens, are now a local recreation area. Within the boarders of the Merian Park the botanical gardens can be found, which covers an area of 135'000 m2. On the bank of the "St. Alban-Teich", an artificially constructed canal, is the Watermill which has been used as museum since 1966: The late Gothic mill is situated directly below the prominent Villa.

With a view to the Grün 80, during 1977, the Villa Merian was overhauled and became a coffee house. Since then the Villa has been reconverted and redecorated. The two cast iron veranda's on either side of the house were removed, but all the other cast iron prefabricated units and the inner decorations were carefully restored. In the lower floor various demolition works were carried out and new toilets for the coffee house were installed and the unused arched cellar and basements were rebuilt so that these recourses could be utilized. The painted, stuccoed ceilings with their gold-plated ornaments, the wall panelling, the bas-relief overdoors and the parquetry were all completely restored.

The tower heating furnace, that had once been removed and stored in the basement, was reinstalled in the parlour. The entrance hall, the three axe cast iron hall way and the entire first floor were left unaltered, but ceilings, walls and floors were redecorated. In the Attica area the walls were demolished, the hipped roof had windows built in and it was insulated. Three seminar rooms and a central zone with toilets were built in.