Otto Engelhart's House

1432

The former residence of Otto Engelhardt is named Villa Chaboya after the hill on whose slopes it stands.

Otto Engelhardt was a renowned German engineer, director of Seville's Electricity and Tramway Company and honorary German consul in Seville. He was a successful manager who implemented a strategy that multiplied the growth of the company by five in just a few years and who enjoyed the gratitude of his own employees.

This German brought public lighting and the electrification of transport to Seville at a time when the tram was pulled by mules. This second endeavour earned him the nickname of Otto el de los tranvías (Tramway Otto).

The neo-Mudejar style house attributed to the regionalist architect Aníbal González, was bought in 1914 by the former honorary consul of Germany in the Andalusian capital and a prominent figure in the pre-Civil War Seville, Otto Engelhardt, who was executed on 14 September 1936 by the troops of General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, as part of the repression of the coup plotters.

His family resided in the house until the 1980s, since the ownership of the property was transferred to the Banco Popular after having passed through different hands. Today, various groups are demanding that it be used for public purposes related to its history. Ruth Engelhardt herself, great-granddaughter of the German engineer and diplomat, expressed the desirability of turning it into a public space, a house of historical heritage to be enjoyed by the entire population.

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