The villa at Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 42 was built in 1924/25 for the silk merchant Richard Merländer (born 1874 in Mülheim/Ruhr). The architect was called Friedrich Kühnen.

Richard Merländer was a bachelor and lived with his staff in the peculiarly designed building. Because of his Jewish origin, he was persecuted by the National Socialist state after 1933. He had to give up his shares in the company, and his middle-class existence was destroyed. He was forced to sell his house. Instead, he had to move into a "Judenhaus" in 1941.