During the second half of his life Eduard Albert, by then a renowned surgeon, scientist and professor at the University of Vienna, returned to Bohemia more and more often and devoted himself to supporting Czech science and culture, promoting Czech interests and supporting the Bohemian art scene. In the 1880s he purchased large tracts of land on the hillside above his birthplace in Žamberk and began to build his summer residence there in 1888. The villa, built in the historicist style, was designed by the architect František Havlíček and its owner surrounded it with an extensive park, having trees and shrubs brought in from far and wide, to enable him to enjoy mature greenery while he was still alive. The villa, completed in 1890, served its owner for ten long years and became a centre, to which Albert invited his important friends. His visitors over the years included the writers Jaroslav Vrchlický and Alois Jirásek and the politicians F. L. Rieger and T. G. Masaryk. After Albert’s death in 1900 the villa and the land became part of a new sanatorium, originally built to treat tuberculosis, which over time became the Albertinum medical institute we see today.
