The villa is located in the Elberfeld-West district in the Zoo residential area on Herthastraße (house number 2) on the corner of Selmaweg. It is located in the zoo district, which is designated as a monument area, in the immediate vicinity of the Wuppertal Zoo, slightly offset from the zoo restaurant building, which is still representative (at least externally).
Grüneck House
The two-and-a-half-story building, made of plastered stone masonry and now painted white, was built in 1894/95 according to plans by the “royal government architect” Kuno Riemann, who was responsible for the development of the villa district in the Hermanns & Riemann architectural office. The villa was the first of several buildings constructed by the architectural firm in the zoo district. It was built in the so-called “picturesque architectural style” and has an irregular but clearly structured floor plan with a balcony and several bay windows and extensions, some of which were designed in the form of apses. The respective facade sides and window areas are also structured asymmetrically, with the quality of living (e.g. optimal lighting conditions or room layout) being the focus as opposed to a strictly symmetrical appearance.[2] The roof shapes also vary greatly; The hipped roof has a gable and a spire.
Haus Grüneck was lived in by Riemann himself and by his daughter until 1982.[1] The privately owned building is still used as a residential building today and is surrounded by a park-like garden.
The city villa is a defining and characteristic building for the zoo district and was added to the city of Wuppertal's list of monuments on December 14, 1984 as a monument.