The Home of Miroslav Krleža, who was without any doubt the most important Croatian writer of the 20th century, is the donation of Dr Krešimir Vranešić to the city of Zagreb. Dr Vranešić, the heir of Krleža, donated part of the Miroslav Krleža bequest, comprising antique furniture, paintings, sculptures, objects of the fine crafts, photographs, about 4,300 books, journals and offprints and the remaining inventory of the flat in which Miroslav and Bela Krleža had lived for almost thirty years. The giving and accepting of donations is an indicator of the cultural level and social awareness of a community, an indicator of care and responsibility to history and tradition.
To the question posed by Enes Čengić “What will happen to the flat after your death”
Krleža replied: "As far as this flat of mine is concerned, there are so many flats in history that went to rack and ruin and that were so much infinitely more important than my and Bela’s home. In our strange conditions, the maintenance of this dwelling means a big investment, and there will hardly be any factor capable of doing this financially in my case. But if anyone cares about preserving the memory of a poet and an actress who lived here for three decades, let them do it."
Thanks, though, to the donator of the inventory, Dr Vranešić, and the recipient of the donation and current owner of the flat, the city of Zagreb, the collection has been open to the public since December 19, 2001, the twentieth anniversary of the death of Krleža. As a result of a decision of the City Assembly, the memorial collection was confided to the care and management of Zagreb City Museum.
THE VILLA REIN
The house at Gvozd 23 (formerly: Tuškanac 6A, Baroness Sofia Jelačić Put 1) was constructed on a commission from the banker Adolf Rein in 1928/9, according to drawings by the architect Rudolf Lubynski (1873-1935). The development of the plot and the buildings on it (a built garage, two gazebos, two pools) was completed in 1936 (A. Helfmann, contractor).
The building has the form of an elongated cube, the mass of which is horizontally articulated by a strong cornice between basement and ground floor. The elevations are designed rather grandly with a motif of arches, repeated rhythmically along the lowest floor with a balcony and veranda on the southeast façade, and a loggia on the southwest. The floor plan is identical on the ground floor and on the first floor.
The garden is freely conceived, which corresponds aesthetically to the nearby woods. The plant species have been chosen so as to correspond to the particular location within the Tuškanac Woods. Alongside its southern edge, below the garage, leads a little path to the ground floor terrace, where there are two marble pedestals with sculptures of Pandora and Leda while a third sculpture, of Hebe, is in front of the entrance to the house, on top of the perimeter wall (Aristid Fontana, end of the 19th century).
This house is an excellent example of the residential villas of the wealthy classes of Zagreb between the wars.
MOVING IN
The part of Tuškanac that has since 1928 borne the name of the historical mountain Gvozd entered history thanks to a unique married couple, Bela and Miroslav Krleža, famous actress and great writer. In 1952 the couple moved from Kukovićeva ulica (today Hebrangova) 23 and went to Gvozd 23, the elite residential area of Zagreb. The flat at Kukovićeva had been large, but was located at a place where the heavy traffic and a number of noisy tradesmen disturbed the tenants’ peace and quiet. The couple were discontented, and had been wondering about finding some other solution. When Mrs Elizabeta Rein found out about this, she offered Bela the space on the first floor. At first Krleža himself was not very enthusiastic, but gave into Bela’s wish and thus the celebrated couple spent the last three decades of their lives here.
The house at Gvozd met all their expectations; the wonderful view of the Upper Town and of the tower of St Mark’s Church. Here they lived far from the bustle of the town, in Tuškanac park. Gvozd became a poetic house, a haven of the local setting, a museum of beauty, a meeting place for writers, politicians and artists.
THE MEMORIAL SPACE
Entrance porch
In the entrance porch, at the bottom of the steps, with a high plinth course of artificial stone (an imitation of yellow marble), in a small semicircular arched niche, is a bronze portrait of Miroslav Krleža, the work of the sculptor Ivan Sabolić, of 1966. In this manner at the spot where outside and inside join, the entrance into the memorial is marked symbolically. Krleža is in residence in Gvozd once again.
The entrance lobby
In the entrance lobby on the first floor we are greeted by a bracket with a mirror, with metal appliqués, allegorical figures and plant ornaments from the Empire (ca 1820/1830). On the mirror is a photograph of a smiling Krleža (photo by F. Vodopivac) with his hat raised, welcoming us in. Also here is a carved wooden chest from Dalmatia (17th century) with stylised palmettos and flowers, a nice specimen of the ethnic heritage.
Dining room
From the hall, on the right, one enters into the one-time large “hall” clad with high oak panelling. With the added fireplace it creates the impression of a warm welcome, a friendly refuge, which was the idea of the architect, R. Lubynski. For the sake of practicality (closeness of the kitchen and the greatest distance from the study), Bela turned it into a dining room.
It is dominated by a round Biedermeier veneered table on a baluster leg of 1840, alongside it a neo-Baroque easy chair of 1880, and a rocking chair, of more recent date, in which Krleža loved to sit.
Alongside the western and northern walls there is a two-door and a one-door Biedermeier china cabinet, with glazed doors, full of metal and porcelain tableware, an inheritance from Krleža’s Aunt Pepa. Between them is a neo-Baroque sofa, a three-seater (of about 1870).
Next to the door, the setting is completed with a Classicist occasional table with an inlaid top, on which there is a brass samovar, and an oil lamp, a set of shelves, meticulously made oriental miniature work (about 1860), with a collection of Chinese crockery and a table with a folding top, on which there is Bela’s collection of silver vessels from the second half of the 18th century.
On the walls, from left to right, oil paintings are dominant:
- the Fortress of Senj by A. Glavan, recalling Bela’s birthplace;
- Portrait of a Woman, the work of Petar Dobrović of 1914;
- Portrait of a Woman after Velasquez by Mersad Berber of 1975 (a gift from the artist to Bela);
- Village in the Snow, by Ivan Lacković Croata (tempera on glass);
- Hung Pheasant by V. Filakovac (attribution uncertain), and
- Portrait of Bela Krleža by Stojan Aralica (located next to the service entrance).
Today, the canvas Zeleni Kader [a First World War topic] by Krsto Hegedušić, known from the catalogue of the Zemlja art group, is missing (it once stood where the Dobrović painting hangs today).
