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Vul. Fedorova, 23 – former residential building

ID: 2294

The Renaissance-style townhouse number 23 (Leyzerivska, later the Sub-voivode administration's) was built in the 17th century. In 1912 architect Ferdynand Kasler built a house in the Art Nouveau style in its place, which was destroyed during the Second World War. Today it is a vacant site, where construction of a hotel complex was planned.

History

17th century – a Renaissance-style townhouse was built.
1863 – a reconstruction of a wing.
1872 – the courtyard was paved.
1773 – the shingle roof was replaced with a tin one, small roof windows were arranged.
1912 – the Renaissance-style townhouse was dismantled; a new one in the Art Nouveau style was constructed.
1944 – the Art Nouveau townhouse was destroyed.

The Leyzerivska townhouse (number 23) was built in the Renaissance style in the 17th century. On the outside it had no stylistic decorations, apart from window and door stone trimmings. In the 18th century it was by escheat transferred under Jewish administration, which explains its being owned by the burgraves and sub-voivodes of the Low Castle. It was in this house that the sub-voivodes took proceedings against Jews. In the documents this house is referred to as "the townhouse of the sub-voivode administration"; at the same time it served as quarters for the sub-voivode guard. In the second half of the 18th century the Austrian government sold the townhouse to Lejzer Boruchowicz; it is from his name that its name comes from.

The oldest document in the townhouse building file dates back to 1863 and regards a reconstruction of the wing, carried out by master builder Josef Mühel. At that time it was owned by Jakób and Zlata Schleicher, Zelda Rappaport, and Rachel Horowiz. In 1865 the police building administration ordered the owners to pave the courtyard; during an inspection in 1871 the lack of required fire-fighting equipment was pointed out to them. According to a report of the landvogt's administration of the city's central part from 1871, the Leyzerivska townhouse was owned by the following persons: a half of the building belonged to the Jewish hospital administration, a quarter to Simche Rappaport, a quarter to Leib Schleicher and Reile Rapp, née Schleicher. In 1872 Simche Rappaport, the Jewish hospital director, pledged to pave the courtyard, which was in poor condition. In 1873 the high shingle roof with lucarnes was replaced with a lower tin one, with small roof windows in the raised façade wall. These works were designed by builder Josef Engel. In 1876 one of the co-owners of the building was Malka Kurzer.

Before the First World War the building parcel under conscription number 206 was purchased by Ferdynand Kasler, a well-known Lviv architect. In 1912 he had the Renaissance townhouse dismantled and designed a project for the construction of a new residential townhouse in the Art Nouveau style. An instruction from the Magistrate's building administration was added to the approved project with regard to the regulatory building frontage line, which was moved deeper. The townhouse was built in that same year.

The building was destroyed during the Second World War. Its depiction has been preserved in a drawing of Żydowska (Jewish) street, performed by Franciszek Kowalishyn in 1904. In 1944 Janusz Witwicki designed projects of reconstructing the lost buildings of the Jewish quarter in Lviv's historic center as of the 17th century, including the house number 23. However, the site has remained vacant.

Architecture

The Renaissance-style Leyzerivska townhouse had four floors; it was built of brick and stone and was 9 m wide. Regarding its spatial structure, it was characteristic of medieval Lviv: a two-part and two-tract one, with a staircase in the second tract. The façade's architectural design was typical of the Renaissance style.  Four axes of windows had rectangular lintels on the third and fourth floors. The second floor with segmental windows in full width was emphasized by a balcony supported by white stone consoles. The  cellars and ground floor premises were vaulted. The townhouse had three entrances: to the gate and to the ground floor premises, evidently occupied by shops; another entrance led to the cellars, which were used as a warehouse. The low gable roof was covered with tin. The façade was topped with a cornice, with a row of small rectangular roof windows, which were arranged when replacing the shingle roof with the tin one.

The townhouse, built by Kasler, had a sectional spatial structure which adapted the structure of the Renaissance house by adding a wing. Thus, it was stretched out in the depth of the parcel. The staircase faced the courtyard. The façade was designed in forms patterned after the German Modernism and combining stylized Neo-Classicist elements. The façade had a two-axis composition; the ground floor had large shop-windows and two entrances on the sides. The façade was decorated with banded rustication and emphasized by a stylized pediment with volutes on the sides and a bas-relief vase with fruit as a symbol of prosperity. The two axes of three-part, trihedral (in plan) windows were topped with a stylized cornice with a visor. Between the windows of the third and fourth floors, there were bas reliefs of two putti with garlands and an antique vase filled with fruit, with two birds (sculptor Zygmunt Kurczyński).

The residential townhouse, built by Ferdynand Kasler in 1912, was a bright monument of the Art Nouveau in Lviv.

Personalities

Zelda Rappaport – an owner of the building
Zygmunt Kurczyński – a sculptor
Zlata Schleicher – an owner of the building
Josef Mühel – a construction master
Józef Engel – a constructor (nuilder)
Leib Schleicher – an owner of the building
Lejzor Boruchowicz – an owner of the building
Malka Kurzer – an owner of the building
Reile Rapp – an owner of the building
Rachel Horowiz – an owner of the building
Simche Rappaport – an owner of the building
Ferdynand Kasler – an architect, the building's owner and designer
Jakub Schleicher – an owner of the building
Janusz Witwicki – an architect, who drew a reconstruction of the appearance of the old Renaissance townhouse

Sources

1. State Archive of Lviv Oblast (DALO) 2/1/455.
2. M. Bałaban, "Dzielnica żydowska: jej dzieje i zabytki", Biblioteka Lwowska, 1990, T. III, 57.
3. Р. Могитич, "Ліктьовий податок", Вісник ін-ту Укрзахідпроектреставрація, 2009, Ч. 19.