Formation of the Street
Mayer Balaban Street in Lviv has a rich history that reflects the city’s development and its Jewish community. It first appears on a map of Lviv in 1766, indicating its existence as early as the 18th century. Initially, the street was called “First Left off Sunny Street”, as it branched from a nearby street named Soniachna (Sunny). The name “Sunny” originated from the nearby synagogue “Or Shemesh” (“Sunlight”).
In 1871, the street was renamed in honor of Berek Joselewicz, a participant in the Kościuszko Uprising. During the German occupation (1943–1944), it was known as Lesia Ukrainka Street (Lesia Ukrainkagasse). In 1946, after World War II, it was renamed after the Soviet revolutionary Sergei Lazo. The street received its current name in 1992, in honor of Mayer Samuel Balaban, a prominent Lviv-born Jewish historian.
Balaban Street is located in the historic Krakivske Suburb, which was traditionally inhabited by members of the Jewish community. Most of the street’s development took place at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, featuring rental houses in Classical and Art Nouveau styles, as well as industrial buildings.
Mayer Balaban (1877–1942) was a distinguished historian, educator, and rabbi who made significant contributions to the study of Jewish history in Poland and Galicia. He was born in Lviv to a family involved in the printing trade and studied at Lviv University. Balaban authored over 1,000 works, many focused on the history of Jewish communities, including that of Lviv.
The street’s current name honors Mayer Balaban’s legacy and highlights the importance of Jewish heritage in Lviv’s urban and cultural history.
Architects and Styles
The building at 20 Mayer Balaban Street in Lviv is a three-story rental townhouse, built in the early 20th century in the Art Nouveau style. In the 1910s, it housed the advertising and poster agency of M. Herenik. From 1924, it became home to the “Kehilat Shabat” synagogue. In the 1930s, the building also hosted G. Blazer’s tailor workshop.
What’s There Now?
Today, the building is used as a residential property.
Sources
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State Archive of Lviv Oblast (DALO) 2/1/129.
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DALO 2/1/131.
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Almanach Żydowski by Herman Stachl (Lwów, 1937).
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I. Kotlobulatowa, Lwów on Old Postcards (Lwów na dawnej pocztówce) (Kraków, 2002).
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Address Book of the Royal Capital City of Lwów, 1914 (Księga adresowa królewskiego stołecznego miasta Lwowa, 1914).
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Jakub Lewicki, Between Tradition and Modernity: Architecture of Lviv in the Years 1893–1918 (Warsaw: Society for the Protection of Monuments, Neriton Publishing House, 2005).