Street Formation
The street was established in the second half of the 19th century and was initially called Mlynarska (or Mühlen Gasse in the Austrian style), as it led to the “Maria-Helena” mill owned by Jakub Philipp, located at today’s 9 Lemkivska Street. In 1864, it was renamed Zamkova Nyzhnia (or Untere Schloss Gasse), likely due to its location. Between 1864 and 1871, it was known as Domsa Road, because it led to the brewery of Robert Doms, a notable oil and ozokerite mining entrepreneur in Boryslav.
From 1871 to 1911, the name Mlynarska returned, and in 1911 the street was renamed after Jakub Herman, a Lviv industrialist and philanthropist. During the German occupation in 1943, it became Gymnasiumgasse, due to its proximity to the 5th Municipal People’s Gymnasium named after Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. After the war, in 1944, it was again named Jakub Herman Street, and in 1946 under Soviet rule, it received its current name — Lemkivska Street.
Builders and Styles
The residential building at 10 Lemkivska Street was designed by Michał Fechter in a style combining Historicism and Secession (Art Nouveau) elements.
Who Owns It?
The building was constructed for the Tobias Aschkenazi Jewish Vocational Boarding House for Apprentices.
What Does the Building Look Like?
The structure is a typical example of a tenement house in Lviv from the late 19th to early 20th century, combining Historicism and Secession in its decorative features.
It is a three-story building with a basement and attic. The walls are brick, and the basement has barrel vaults. Floors and stairs are made of wood. The façades are plastered and adorned with stucco decorations. A balcony supported by metal brackets with a slab of artificial stone is decorated with cast consoles. The gable roof was initially covered with painted sheet metal and later replaced with slate.
The layout is L-shaped, with an elongated side wing (officine). The entrance is located on the main façade through a driveway (passage), which leads to the staircase and inner courtyard. The original 1907 plan included three apartments on the ground floor, and four apartments on each of the upper floors. On the ground floor, two apartments were two-room units with a shared kitchen. The side wing housed a one-room apartment with a kitchen and pantry, as well as shared toilets for residents. The second and third floors had four apartments each, including a one-room unit above the passage.
The façade is asymmetrical, with seven window bays and a narrow risalit on the right side. The composition is tectonic: a rusticated base, a rusticated first floor separated by a cornice, and rectangular windows with surrounds and pediments. The main entrance gate is on the far right axis. Stylized capitals with cartouches, garlands, and ribbons are located on the third floor between the windows. The façade ends with a simple cornice. Metal grilles on basement windows and the balcony railing are in Neo-Baroque style.
Interesting Facts
In the early 19th century, the area of the modern block bordered by Lemkivska, Teslenka, and Zamarstynivska Streets consisted of two plots: numbers 175 and 176 (¾), and part of plot 177. Lemkivska Street existed as early as the 18th century under the name Zamkova Nyzhnia (Untere Schloss Gasse), with wooden and stone buildings. In the 19th century, due to the mills on the odd-numbered side, the street was often referred to as Mlynarska.
By the mid-19th century, only two lots on the even-numbered side were developed — Nos. 2 (175 ¾) and 4 (173 ¾). In 1871, No. 4 was owned by Abraham Brifer, and in 1889 by his heirs. After Ksavera Adamowska’s death, the court appointed her husband as temporary manager of her estate.
Modern house numbering was introduced in the late 19th to early 20th century when plots were subdivided. Jakub Herman, a Lviv entrepreneur, purchased several lots and in 1907–1908 built houses for a vocational boarding school, based on Michał Fechter’s design. The architecture combines Historicism and Secession elements.
After Herman’s death in 1928, building No. 10 was transferred to the Jewish Craftsmen’s Society “Yad Haruzim”, while others became private property. During the Holocaust, this building was located within the Lviv Ghetto.
What Is It Now?
Today, the building is a residential property.
Sources and Literature
Melnyk B. V. Index of Modern Names of Streets and Squares of Lviv // Directory of Renamings of Lviv Streets and Squares. 13th–20th Centuries. — Lviv: Svit, 2001. — ISBN 966-603-115-9.
State Archives of the Lviv Region (DALO) 2/2/494
“Yad Harutzim” in Lviv
Księga adresowa królewskiego stołecznego miasta Lwowa — Lemberg, 1913.
Księga adresowa Małopolski. Wykaz domów na obszarze miasta Lwowa — Lwów, Stanisławów, Tarnopol, 1935–1936.
Skorowidz królewskiego stołecznego miasta Lwowa — Lemberg, 1872.
Skorowidz królewskiego stołecznego miasta Lwowa — Lemberg, 1889.
Skorowidz królewskiego stołecznego miasta Lwowa — Lemberg, 1910.