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Art Nouveau Styled Heritage
by Darinka Kladnik
Photos by David Kladnik
Translated by Christina Strojan
Art Nouveau has many names: in Slovenia we call it "secesija",
it is also known as Jugendstil, Sezession, Modern Style, Liberty,
Glasgow Style, Modernisme, Ecole de Nancy… This new art
was a multi-layered phenomenon and is known for its whole, integral
works of art. It used new materials and techniques and formed
a close partnership with the economy. Taking note of the social
changes, it thus became far more accessible to the general public.
Artists drew their inspiration from flora and fauna; they were
interested in natural forms, geometrical shapes, decorative
patterns, folklore and national motives and elements as well
as exotic cultures and religions…
Art Nouveau works were first presented in 1897 in Brussels at
the International Industrial exhibition, a year after that a
"Sezession" exhibition took place in Vienna and in
1900 at the World Exposition in Paris this new style truly stepped
into the foreground. Its ending is signalled by the exposition
in 1925 which also took place in Paris.
Even before the end of the 19th century Ljubljana got two slightly
Art Nouveau styled buildings (on what is today Prešernov
trg 3, or Prešeren’s square in English and Wolfova
ulica 10 or Wolf Street) which, however, are without any special
architectural value. At the same time the Narodna kavarna (National
Coffee House) and Meyerjeva Kavarna (The Meyer Coffee House)
were opened, both decorated in the then popular "international
style". The first true Art Nouveau buildings were built
after the great earthquake in Ljubljana in 1895, when many new
buildings were erected. Ljubljana at that time evolved from
a sleepy provincial town into a modern national capital. In
1900 the city council of Ljubljana put out a tender for a new
bridge, built according to the plans of the architect Giorgio
Zaninovich (employed by Pittel & Brausenwatter) in a relatively
short time. It was opened on the 5th of October in 1901 and
named The Emperor Franz Joseph's Jubilee Bridge as is indicated
by the dates on the outer side of the bridge (1848-1888). Four
dragons standing on either side guard the bridge so the people
of Ljubljana christened it "The Dragon Bridge" (Zmajski
most) and it is still called that today. The concrete facade
of the bridge is a beautiful example of Art Nouveau. It was
manufactured entirely in Vienna and the dragons were made in
a Viennese factory for metal objects and decorations according
to the drafts of A.M. Beschorner.
After the earthquake, the architect Max Fabiani was asked to
"regulate" the city. He did so and in addition came
up with many more plans. In 1899 he conceived the former Sodniški
trg, nowadays Miklošicev park, (or Miklošic Park)
and envisioned the construction of the surrounding buildings.
The square was completed in 1902 and this part of the city and
the buildings along Miklošiceva ulica (Miklošic Street)
were named Art Nouveau Ljubljana. Some of the buildings are
the work of Maks Fabiani and are among the most beautiful examples
of this style, for example the Bamberger house (Miklošiceva
16). The Krisper house (Miklošiceva 20), conceived in a
light Art Nouveau style to please its owner, is also the work
of this architect.
Fabiani also designed the Mladika building (Prešernova
25) – a former Girl's Grammar and Boarding School, which
now houses the Foreign Ministry. This building also has some
Art Nouveau features although its facade is virtually unadorned
except for the owls on the entrance portal, representing wisdom,
and a relief of grey stone on the facade of the gymnasium wall.
The relief represents four girls holding garlands and coats
of arms of Carniola, Ljubljana and Sir Josip Gorjup Slavenski,
made according to Fabiani's drafts by the sculptor Ivan Zajec,
the artist responsible for Prešeren’s monument.
Another beautiful example of Art nouveau architecture is the
Pogacnik house (Cigaletova1), designed by Ciril Metod Koch in
1902. He also drew on Viennese architecture; the female figure
above the entrance is based on plans for the Viennese Worker's
Hall. In the same year he designed the Cuden house, which is
notable for its turret. It is angular in its ground plan, then
evolves into a semicircle and ends with a square plate on which
a globe is placed. The Hauptman house (Wolfova 2), christened
by the people of Ljubljana as "the little skyscraper",
is also Koch's work. It was built on the site of an old inn
in 1873 and although it suffered no damage during the earthquake
its owner decided to renovate. The architect added glazed tiles
to the facade and combined them in interesting combinations
of green, blue, red and white, an echo of Viennese "sezession".
Felix Urbanc's department store (today’s Centromerkur)
built in 1903 also belongs to Art Nouveau architecture. Designed
by Friderich Sigmund from Graz, it is modelled on one of the
department stores in Budapest as can be seen from the facade.
The building's special feature is a Neo-Baroque statue of Mercury,
the Greek god of commerce and its interior design forms an integral
unit with the architectural structure, staying true to the Art
Nouveau ideal. Another exciting feature of the exterior is the
semicircle of blooming flowers above the entrance, while the
interior is dominated by a monumental staircase leading to the
first floor, decorated by a female statue representing trade.
However, little of the original furnishings remain so the glamour
of the department store is considerably lessened. The art nouveau
glamour of the Grand Hotel Union, however, lives on. After its
recent renovation it again shines in full glory, as elegant
as at its opening in October 1905. At that time, the party went
on for days and it was said that Ljubljana had finally got its
first metropolitan hotel. Its centenary was celebrated this
September, along with the centenary of the erection of Prešeren's
monument and a hundred years since the city became the owner
of Ljubljana castle.
The Grand Hotel Union was built next to the road leading from
the old city centre to the railway station. It was a macadam
road back then with scarcely any houses. But soon buildings
began to rise up one by one, the biggest and the most glamorous
being the hotel. The building of the hotel was financed by the
joint-stock company Union, founded by a doctor named Vinko Gregorcic.
The hotel was designed by Josip Vancaš, a Czech architect,
in 1903. Work started in 1904 and was completed fairly quickly.
The new hotel was the biggest building in Ljubljana. It is made
up of two wings at right angles to each other, and the corner
concludes in a domed roof. Now it forms the corner of two streets:
today's Nazorjeva and Miklošiceva. The hotel has two halls,
the great hall and a smaller one next to it. The former was
a technological marvel: with its 33.40 meters in length and
11.00 metres in width it was the biggest and the most beautiful
in the Balkans.
Josip Vancaš was a well-known architect, invited to work
in Ljubljana soon after the great earthquake. He impressed the
city's worthies with his plans for Mestna hranilnica (or The
Municipal Saving's Bank) on Copova 3. The building is one of
his earliest Art Nouveau works. The portal resembles the one
at Urbanc's department store, although it is less grand, but
the signboard, one of the few still left today, is typical Art
Nouveau. Made of wrought iron, this frame-like sign features
a bee, a symbol of thrift and diligence. There are also a lot
of national symbols, accentuated by using colours, motives from
folk crafts and vegetation, all connected to the awakening of
Slovene national awareness.
The art nouveau style is especially present in the interior
of the Grand Hotel Union: while the facade was decorated with
garlands, heads of female figures and cartouches, the interior
boasted lavish furnishings, typical undulating Art Nouveau lines
and stucco work. Most of the furnishings were manufactured by
local craftsmen, only the glass panels were ordered in the famous
A. Rhewald's glass manufacturing plant. These were single-colour
glass plates with stylised plant and flower motives, so loved
by Art Nouveau. There is little left of the original interior
equipment, but some of the originals were replaced by copies
thus preserving the Art Nouveau feel of the place.
Opposite the hotel stands another building designed by Josip
Vancic, the Ljudska posojilnica (The People's Loan Society),
built in 1907. It has all the "modern" features popular
at the time: there are more buds, blooms, leaves and sitting
figurines than anywhere else. There are many more Art Nouveau
buildings in Ljubljana, around eighty in all, and there are
around 150 in the whole of Slovenia. The last buildings to be
designed in the Art Nouveau style are the Narodni dom (National
Hall) in Kranj and the Sokol Society Hall in Tabor in Ljubljana,
both designed by Ivan Vurnik, and Jožef Jelenc's Sokol
Society Hall in Ljutomer, built between 1924-1927.
Recently there has been increasing interest in Europe for Art
Nouveau, which is also due to the interest of the experts of
UNESCO, who discovered that there are very few examples of this
style on their list of global cultural heritage, which prompted
them to research and document its values and cultural monuments.
Many National Commissions for Unesco responded to UNESCO’s
group of experts who focused on Art Nouveau architecture, among
them The Office of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO.
It participated in a project involving joint international study
and active preservation and renovation of the world's Art Nouveau
architectural heritage. Its result is the permanent photographic
exhibition in Bad Neuheim, where one can see also Slovene Art
Nouveau architecture.
(Content abstracted from "Slovenija.svet" published
by Slovenska
izseljenska matica.)
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