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Vul. Stefanyka, 11 – former residential housing

ID: 2439
From the late 18th century till 1872 there was a single-storied residential house, typical for its time, on the site of the modern building. In the mid-19th century it was owned by the Klimke family.

History

During the 18th century the area, where the house was built later, belonged to the Calced Carmelites' monastery (now it is the main building of the Stefanyk Library). In 1782, after the reforms of Emperor Joseph II, the monastery was abolished, and a Roman Catholic seminary was arranged in its building; later it was occupied by a military bakery and a warehouse (Schnür-Pepłowski, 1896, 140). In 1827-1833 the Ossoliński institution was opened there, giving its name to what is known as Stefanyka street today.

The street was surrounded by residential buildings already in the 18th century as wooden houses are marked on the 1766 map.

In the first half of the 19th century the wooden houses were replaced by single- and two-storied brick ones. The literature mentions that in 1830-1831, after the opening of the Ossoliński institution, its director Siarczyński lobbied for a street lighting arrangement, but the city officials refused arguing that the street was "too empty and not inhabited" to be lit (Schnür-Pepłowski, 1896, 146).

The plot of the modern building on Stefanyka street 11 was marked with conscription number 376 ¼ at least from 1802. According to the 1802 map, there were brick buildings on the plot: a front townhouse and a house in the area’s rear part, with a wooden extension. The plot retained its conscription number for the whole century. In the 1870s it was assigned its current number 11; before, it was marked with number 10.

At least since 1855 and till 1872 the plot was owned by Tekla Południewska, née Kulikowska, Klimke in the second marriage. In some 1871 documents, Józef, Karol, and Jan Klimke are also referred to as co-owners of the building (DALO 2/2/4446:20).

In 1862 the Magistrate's commission conducted an inspection of the real estate (the plot with the buildings); consequently, the Magistrate ordered the owner to rebuild the wing's collapsed wall from the side of the garden, where a kitchen was located, and the toilet wall, which was in disrepair, as well as to clean the cesspools (DALO 2/2/4446:16).

In 1871, apparently preparing the real estate for sale, Karol Klimke, a co-owner, requested for a detailed description of the real estate, including a description of the housing and all the areas. An inspection, conducted by a commission of the Magistrate's Technical Department, showed that the total area of ​​the plot number 376 ¼ was 1,002 sq fathoms (about 3,600 sq m) and was surrounded by a fence. 5 buildings were located there: the "front" building, i.e. a single-storied residential townhouse, covered with shingles; farther on the right, a brick wing with a kitchen and two living rooms as well as a small stable attached to it; farther in the yard, a brick rear wing, covered with shingles, with living rooms and a kitchen; an outbuilding with a cart shed and a stable; the caretaker's apartment (DALO 2/2/4446:14-15).

In 1872 the owners – Tekla, Józef, Jan, and Karol Klimke sold a half of their real estate to Jan Tarnawiecki (DALO 2/2/4446:20); the contract of sale was signed on 14 April 1872. However, later that same year, all the real estate was purchased by princess Jadwiga Sapieha, née Zamoyska, the wife of Leon Sapieha, the Marshal of the Galician Provincial Diet (DALO 2/2/4446:13). As the Sapiehas were going to build a new residential townhouse on the plot, the old building was dismantled. The project of a new building was designed by architect Adolf Kuhn in 1873 (he was also the author of the reconstruction of the Sapieha's palace situated on Kopernika street 40a). Today it is a four-storied apartment building.

Architecture

Since we have no graphic materials enabling us to see what the previous buildings on this plot looked like, the following information comes from the description of the real estate performed by the Magistrate's commission in 1871. Judging from the description, there were simple, modest houses there which were not notable from the architectural point of view. The plot area was 1,002 sq fathoms, i.e. 3,597.7 sq m, and was separated from the neighboring areas by a fence. In front, there was an old (from the late 18th century) single-storied building (about 13,3 x 8,5 m). It consisted of a porch, a "Polish" kitchen, 4 living rooms and 2 vaulted cellars. It was constructed of solid materials and covered with shingles; its technical condition was satisfactory.

To the right in the yard, there was a single-storied wing (12,33 x 5,37 m). There were two vestibules there, one with a "Polish" kitchen and the other with an "English" kitchen, as well as two living rooms; the premises were in a satisfactory condition. A small stable was attached to the wing, its outer wall was in poor condition. Farther in the yard, there was a stone rear wing covered with shingles, in good condition. It consisted of two vestibules with "Polish" kitchens, 8 living rooms and an "English" kitchen. The premises were in rather good condition.

There was also an outbuilding on the plot, which contained a cart shed for two carriages, a stable for 13 horses, a room for the caretaker. The stone building's size was 22,76 x 6,64 m, it was covered with a shingle roof and was in "average" condition.

Related Places

Description

Vul. Stefanyka, 11 – residential building

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Personalities

Adolf Kuhn – a civil architect based in Lviv who designed the present building on the plot 
Wilhelm Cukr – Karol Klimka's lawyer in the real estate cases
Karol Klimka – co-owner of the real estate
Leon Ludwik Sapieha (1803–1878)  a prince, Marshal of the Galician Provincial Diet in І-ІІІ terms of office (1861–1875), a prominent Polish politician and public figure 
Tekla Klimka, Tekla Poludniewska née Kulikowska (Tekla z Kulikowskich,  Klimka, 2  Południewska  co-owner of the real estate
Franciszek Siarczyński (1758–1829) – a priest, historian and librarian, the first director of the Ossolinki institute 
Józef Klimka – co-owner of the real estate
Jadwiga Sapieha née Zamoyska (Jadwiga z Zamoyskich Sapieżyna) (1806–1890) – Leon Sapieha's wife who commissioned the construction of the present building
Jan Tarnawiecki – co-owner of the real estate

Sources

  1. State Archive of Lviv Oblast (DALO) 2/2/4445:2.
  2. DALO 2/2/4446.
  3. Lemberg Cadastral Map
  4. Schnür-Pepłowski Stanisław, Obrazy z przeszłości Galicyi i Krakowa (1772–1858), T. I (Lwów: Nakładem księgarni Gubrynowicza i Schmidta, 1896).

Material compiled by Olha Zarechnyuk