The houses have been built in 1913 by a well-known singer, Gisela Polz, contemporary of Gustav Mahler, daughter of general Carl Polz, knighted by Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph with the title of “Edler von Ruttersheim”. She married an older man, Moritz Glauber, with whom she lived in Prague with their only child, a son, Max. Moritz was a well-to-do banker, benefactor of the German Theatre and close friend of the famous orchestra director Angelo Neumann - promoter of Richard Wagner – under whose direction Gisela interpreted various opera roles. Max was eight when his mother, widowed prematurely, moved to Bolzano and built her home as  a “vacation residence” in Toblach. She chose a unique spot, the only one from which one had an unobstructed view of Monte Antelao, some 30 kilometers away as the crow flies.
The property consists of the three-storied main “villa”; an annex, known as the “Landhaus” which served  for agricultural purposes, with lodgings for carriage and coachman, hayloft for the horse and pigsty. The original wood bowling alley still exists, but unfortunately the tennis court and swimming pool are a thing of the past. Now it houses three comfortable apartments.

After the First World War, Gisela’s favorite brother, K.u.K. Rudolf Polz, a major in the Emperor’s army, joined his sister. Beloved by the ladies of the village, he taught them English, much as Gisela taught singing to the members of the church choir, which, to this day, is one of the best in the valley.  They were soon joined by their sister Elsa, famous theatre actress and gambler, who was accompanied by her personal coachman and cook. A colorful ménage!

In 1925, Max, barely of age, founded UNDA RADIO, one of the first radio factories in Italy, and the following year he married Trude, whom he had met in high school in Bolzano. She was the daughter of a lawyer, musician, historian and congressman in the Italian parliament, offspring of the antique Bolzano family Walther von Herbstenburg. The factory building, adjacent to the villa, still exists, albeit restructured. Meanwhile the family grew with the births of Heini, Hans, Lisa.

The Glaubers lived a serene and happy life in Toblach until 1938, when it was upset by the Nazi “Anschluss”: Austria was annexed to Germany, and the family became “Reichsdeutsch. The 1939 wicked pact between Mussolini and Hitler brought even worse consequences for the family: it lost its right to residence and to property in the Alto Adige: the villa had to be sold. The new owner, an engineer from Novara, made incomprehensible modifications, changing the kitchen and bathroom tiles with roman-style mosaics, and destroyed the precious wood-burning majolica stoves, replacing them with central heating.

The Nazi presence in Italy brought another big change in the region, which became part of Italy in 1918: the “Option” program, which encouraged the residents to emigrate to Germany, deceiving them with unrealistic promises. A high percentage of Toblach residents took up the offer and emigrated to the Reich. Unda Radio had to close its doors and the family moved to Como, where Max opened a new factory. On June 10, 1940, all the church bells started ringing: Italy had entered the war, and the splendid life of the Glaubers in Toblach came to an end.
But history moves on, rebuilding begins and the family, after a court fight, regains their ancestral home, the villa, which the Novara engineer was not able to pay for. The new generation comes of age, maturing a strong passion for ecology, Hans and music, Heini, bringing the property to its old splendor, and becoming a meeting point for friends, relatives, artists, musicians, ecologists and prominent international political and cultural personalities.

In Toblach, in 1985, Hans establishes the “Colloqui di Dobbiaco”, a think tank for ideas dealing with environmental problems. Here, in accordance with Hans’s vision, yearly international meetings take place to deal with the future of our planet.
Music life begins again, and “explodes” at the end of the eighties, with the restoration of the Ibach baby grand piano, an event celebrated with a concert given by Fabiana Biasini. From then on, in the music room of Villa Glauber one can here chamber music, duets, trios, quartets, with pianist Pierpaolo Murizzi, flutist Mattia Petrilli, sopranos Bianca Tognocchi and Sabina von Walther, cellists Yves Savary, Michele Ballarini and Guido Boselli, violinists Emma Parmigiani and Igor Cantarelli, Papageno Quintett, the Ueberbrettl Ensemble, recent graduates or  just music lovers…

Villa Glauber was awarded the title of hisorical residence in 2016 and is under the tutelage of the Department of Fine Arts and Culture.

Since 1913, Villa Glauber in Toblach means history, culture, music, tradition, charm, quietness, relaxation, sport, entertainment and unspoiled nature: an ideal place for your splendid vacation.