Part Three: New Cetate II
The new city development plan saw the Franz Joseph Boulevard as the main boulevard of the city. It ran from the Timişoara Opera in the south of the old town towards the Elisabetin and Iosefin districts across the Bega. It was flanked by magnificent palaces in the style of Secession. All the palaces that were built here before World War I survive: six on its western promenade, known as the Corso, and one on its eastern promenade, known as the Surogat.
The boulevard was modified multiple times in the 20th century, most notably in the late 1930s, during the construction of the Metropolitan Cathedral, which closed it off from the south and gave it the look of an elongated square. It is now it is known as the Victory Square.
10. Lloyd Palace
Piața Victoriei 2
Lipót Baumhorn (architect) & Arnold Merbl (constructor), 1910-1912
The Lloyd Palace is the most famous of the palaces on the Victory Square. It is named after Lloyd’s of London, which had its local headquarters on the first floor, together with an agricultural stock exchange. The ground floor housed a café in the style of a Viennese coffee house – originally Café Wien, after World War I Café Lloyd. There were luxurious apartments on the upper floors. The building now houses the rectorate of the Polytechnic University of Timişoara.
The Lloyd Palace is the most important work of Lipót Baumhorn in Timişoara. It is a massive building with a high roof and sinuous eaves. Its façade shows engaged columns with statues, pilasters with stylised finials, and some balconies. The surfaces are predominantly decorated with geometric patterns, although some mascarons can be spotted as well.
Many original elements survive on the inside.
11. Neuhausz Palace
Piața Victoriei 4
László Székely, 1910-1912
The Neuhausz Palace has a symmetrical façade with by a massive bay window and a huge gable. The windows and openings are of various shapes. The sequence of mullioned windows on the third floor is slightly reminiscent of some Venetian palaces, while the deep recesses on the central axis of the bay window are similar to the entranceways of some National Romantic buildings in Helsinki. The decorations are abstract and repetitive, creating rhythm.
12. Merbl Palace
Piața Victoriei / Strada Dr. Nicolae Paulescu
Arnold Merbl, 1911-1912
This palace was owned and designed by Arnold Merbl, whose firm constructed various other notable buildings in the city, such as the Piarist complex and the Lloyd Palace. Its predominant features are the corner tower, curved gables and simple geometric façade ornaments.
13. Dauerbach Palace
Piața Victoriei / Strada Dr. Nicolae Paulescu / Strada Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
László Székely, 1911-1913
The Dauerbach Palace is the most striking building on the Victory Square. It is notable for its massive roof, which is interrupted by deeply recessed gables with a sinuous outline, making it look like it hangs above the façade. There are circular windows on all the gables and mascarons on the gables of the central wing. The other ornaments are predominantly geometric.
Originally the Palace Restaurant operated on the ground floor of the building, one of the most elegant restaurants in the city at the time.
There is a replica of the Capitoline Wolf in front of the palace, given to Timișoara by the city of Rome in 1926, to celebrate the Romance heritage of Romanians and Italians.
14. Hilt & Vogel Palace
Piața Victoriei 6
László Székely, 1911-1913
This palace has, like several other buildings designed by László Székely, a slightly rustic look. It has an emphasised corner with a massive roof and long balconies, a trapezoidal gable with a vertically divided window, two rectangular bay windows stretching across two floors, and different types of façade decorations.
15. Széchenyi Palace
Piața Victoriei 8
László Székely, 1911-1914
This is the southernmost structure on the Corso. It is an impressive building with towers, bay windows, loggias and balconies. The largest bay window has loggias of different design on three floors and a bas-relief depicting an angel on its pediment. The building was commissioned by the Széchenyi company. László Székely had an office here.
16. Löffler Palace
Piața Victoriei 1
Leopold Löffler & Henrik Telkes, 1912-1913
The Löffler Palace is a massive structure located on the Surogat side of the Victory Square, in front of the Hunyadi Castle. It was constructed as an apartment building with commercial spaces for the Löffler family and their firm. It is an Eclectic structure where Art Nouveau meets Baroque. The statues that can be seen on its façades are probably the work of Géza Rubletzky.
grande flânerie 