Villa Obenauer

Villa Obenauer rises in Saarbrücken’s Triller residential area, where its hillside position shapes the view of this early modern villa. Peter Behrens designed the building between 1905 and 1907. Two storeys form a cubic structure beneath a hipped roof, set above a high base floor. Rectangular plaster fields divide the façade. A terrace stretches before the house, with a pergola resting on massive pillars and standing above street level.

Behrens also planned the interior, including a gentleman’s room, dining room and hall. In 1910, he added a workspace and library. These clear forms anticipated principles later associated with De Stijl and the Bauhaus, placing the building within twentieth-century architectural history. The villa passed to the Reichsautobahnverwaltung in 1940 and later served as a youth centre.

Private ownership returned in 2001, followed by extensive renovation and changes that prompted debate among conservationists. Today, protected status preserves the building, while private ownership limits views to the exterior. Look for the contrast between the pale rectangular façade fields and the heavy pergola pillars above the sloping street.