Lviv Secession

Elster & Topf Apartments (Bohomoltsya St. 8), Lviv

Introduction

Western Ukraine was, at the beginning of the 20th century, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Together with Southern Poland it formed the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria – a crownland of the Cisleithanian part of the Dual Monarchy. Its capital – Lviv (Львів in Ukrainian, Lwów in Polish, Lemberg in German, and לעמבערג‎ in Yiddish) – was the fifth largest city of the empire after Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Trieste. It was a major centre of Polish, Jewish and Ukrainian culture. In 1900, Poles formed around a half of the city’s population, Jews around a quarter, and Ukrainians around one fifth.

At that time, Galicia was seen as one of the most peripheral regions of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, both literally and figuratively. Despite that, the contemporary trends that were transforming the cities in the western parts of the Habsburg Empire soon also found its way here. In architecture, for example, this is reflected by a large number of buildings in the style of Vienna Secession in the major East Galician cities. This, however, does not mean that nothing interesting originated from here. In fact, a highly unique architectural style known as the Hutsul Secession was born in Lviv in the 1890s and the 1900s. It sought inspiration from the Austro-Hungarian Secession as well as the art and architecture of the Carpathian highlanders, especially the Hutsuls. To me it is one of the most original substyles of European Art Nouveau.

The most important architect of the fin-de-siècle Lviv was Ivan Levynskyi. It was in his architectural firm that the designs of the most outstanding Secessionist buildings of the city were drawn. Furthermore, Levynskyi ran a ceramic factory, which was one of the most successful businesses of East Galicia and which also produced the majolica tiles that adorn many Secessionist façades in the city. An equally important representative of Lviv Secession was Tadeusz Obmiński. He often collaborated with Levynskyi, and he is the architect of the biggest number of buildings that I will introduce below.

In the compliation of these portfolios, my two main sources were Lviv Interactive – a well-researched map of Lviv’s history – and Forgotten Galicia – one of the best websites about the historical Galicia and forgotten heritage in general that I know.

Sites

In my porfolios you will find photos of 41 Secessionist structures in Lviv. The list of buildings below is representative, but not comprehensive.

Dnister Insurance Company building | Ruska St. 20 & Pidvalna St. 7 | Tadeusz Obmiński (façades), Oleksandr Lushpynskyi & Osyp Biloskurskyi (ceramic decoration), Mykhaylo Stefanivskyi (metalwork), 1904-1906
Residence of the deacons of the Cathedral of Saint George | Ozarkevycha St. 2 | Tadeusz Obmiński & Oleksandr Lushpynskyi, 1903-1904
Ukrainian Academic House | Kotsyubynskoho St. 21 | Tadeusz Obmiński, Filemon Levytskyi & Oleksandr Lushpynskyi, 1904-1906
Student residence of the National House Institute | Lysenka St. 14-14a | Tadeusz Obmiński, Oleksandr Lushpynskyi & Lev Levynskyi, 1906-1908
Solecki Clinic | Lychakivska St. 107 | Oleksandr Lushpynskyi, 1908; third floor – Wawrzyniec Dajczak, 1934
Papée Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 3 | Ivan Levynskyi & Co., 1905-1906
Bastgen Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 5 | Ivan Levynskyi, 1905-1906
Haszlakiewicz Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 7 | Ivan Levynskyi, 1905-1906
Elster & Topf Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 4 | Ivan Levynskyi & Co., 1905-1906
Stauber Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 6 | Tadeusz Obmiński & Kazimierz Teodorowicz, 1906
Elster & Topf Apartments | Bohomoltsya St. 8 | Ivan Levynskyi, 1905-1907
Segal Apartments | Shevchenka Ave. 4 & Chaikovskoho St. 6 | Tadeusz Obmiński, 1904-1905
Hotel National | Kostyushka St. 1 & Doroshenka St. 20 | Tadeusz Obmiński (architect) & Filemon Levytskyi (balcony railings), 1904-1906
Elster Apartments | Pavlova St. 1 | Tadeusz Obmiński, 1905-1906
Elster Apartments | Pavlova St. 3 | Tadeusz Obmiński, 1905-1906
Lange Apartments | Pavlova St. 2 | Tadeusz Obmiński, 1905-1906
Piller Apartments | Pavlova St. 4 | Tadeusz Obmiński & Adolf Piller (?), 1905-1906
Brich Apartments | Hlibova St. 2 | Tadeusz Obmiński (architect) & Teobald Orkasiewicz (stucco decoration), 1906
Stromenger Building | Henerala Hryhorenka Sq. 4 | Tadeusz Obmiński, 1906-1907
Elster Apartments | Levytskoho St. 14-16 | Tadeusz Obmiński (?), 1907
Hausmann Apartments | Doroshenka St. 15 | Tadeusz Obmiński, or Zygmunt Kędzierski & Michał Ulam, 1906-1908
Lviv Main Railway Station | Dvirtseva Sq. 1 | Władysław Sadłowski, 1898-1904; waiting halls – Alfred Zachariewicz & Tadeusz Obmiński (destroyed)
Voronoho St. 9 | Józef Piątkowski, 1904-1905 or 1907
Dec Apartments | Vitovskoho St. 7a | Stanisław Dec, 1905
Chornovola Ave. 13 | Henryk Orlean, c. 1905
Kotsyubynskoho St. 5 | L. Cybulski, 1906
Vitovskoho St. 5a | Kaspar Julian Draniewicz (architect) & Józef Szebest (sculptural decoration), 1906-1907
Stoff Apartments | Rustaveli St. 8-8a | Władysław Sadłowski, 1906-1907
Saksahanskoho St. 1 | Alfred Zachariewicz & Józef Sosnowski, 1907
Balaban Apartments | Valova St. 7 & Halytska St. 21 | Alfred Zachariewicz & Józef Sosnowski (architects), Zygmunt Kurczyński (reliefs), 1908-1910
Prague Credit Bank building | Svobody Ave. 17 & Hnatyuka St. 2 | Matěj Blecha (architect) & Emanuel Kodet (sculptural decoration), 1911-1913
Chornovola Ave. 19
Chornovola Ave. 25 | 1911
Kulisha St. 35-37
Kulisha St. 40
Dzherelna St. 21 & Krekhivska St. 2
Vesela St. 1
Kotsyubynskoho St. 10
Tykha St. 3
Horodotska St. 78
Pidvalna tram and bus stop | Pidvalna Street, across the Korniakt Tower

The only major building in the style of Hutsul Secession that is missing in my portfolios is the gymnasium and student residence of the Ukrainian Pedagogical Society (Chuprynky St. 103). Other addresses with noteworthy examples of Lviv Secession include Antonovycha St. 83, Baroncha St. 5, Dontsova St. 8-14, Franka St. 124-132, Kurbasa St. 5, Nechuya-Levytskoho St. 17-19, and Vyshenskoho St. 12.