Friedrich Grünanger (25 January 1856 – 14 December 1929) was a

Transylvanian Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

architect who worked primarily in

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. Born in Schäßburg in

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(today Sighişoara in

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), Grünanger studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna architecture school between 1877 and 1879, under

Friedrich von Schmidt Friedrich von Schmidt (October 22, 1825 – January 23, 1891) was an architect who worked in late 19th century Vienna. Life and career Von Schmidt was born in Frickenhofen, Gschwend, Württemberg, Germany. After studying at the technical hig ...

. As a style, he was a representative of the late

historism Historism (Italian: ''storicismo'') is a philosophical and historiographical theory, founded in 19th-century Germany (as ''Historismus'') and especially influential in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. In those times there was not a single natural, hu ...

, of the eclectic style, the Viennese Neo-Baroque and the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

. In 1879, he was appointed in the Direction of Public Buildings, part of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and became Chief Architect of

Razgrad Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province. Etymolo ...

, later court architect of Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria and his successor Ferdinand. During his thirty years of work in Bulgaria, he designed and constructed numerous remarkable public and residential buildings, mainly in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. In 1908 he returned to Austria-Hungary and retired in

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, but briefly returned to Bulgaria between 1911 and 1914 until his work in the country was discontinued after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Works

This is an incomplete list of selected works by Friedrich Grünanger. *

** Mausoleum of the Russian Warriors (1879–1880) ** Razgrad High School, today Exarch Joseph High School of Foreign Languages * Rousse ** regional government building and palace of Knyaz Alexander (co-work), today the Rousse Regional History Museum (1879–1882); first governmental building in Bulgaria built for the purpose after the

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in 1878 ** first navy watchtower and meteorological station in Bulgaria (1883) *

** Royal Palace of Bulgaria (today housing the

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

and the National Ethnographic Museum) (1880–1882). In 1893/4–1895 built the three-storey east wing and shaped the palace's current appearance ** two-storey private house with a mansard for Anna Pulieva (1899) **

Sarmadzhiev House The Sarmadzhiev House ( bg, къща на Сърмаджиев, ''kashta na Sarmadzhiev'') is a Neo-Baroque house in central Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The Sarmadzhiev House lies on the corner of Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard and Krakra Street ...

: private house for Haralambi Sarmadzhiev (today Turkish ambassadorial residence) ** Sofia Spiritual Academy (today Sofia University Faculty of Theology); co-work with other architects **

Sofia Seminary The Sofia Seminary of St John of Rila ( bg, Софийска духовна семинария „Св. Йоан Рилски“, ''Sofiyska duhovna seminariya „Sv. Yoan Rilski“''), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the main semi ...

with the St John of Rila Church (1902–1914) **

Sofia Synagogue The Sofia Synagogue ( bg, Софийска синагога, ''Sofiyska sinagoga'') is the largest synagogue in Southeastern Europe, one of two functioning in Bulgaria (with the other one in Plovdiv) and the third-largest in Europe.

(1904–1909) ** Sofia Mineral Baths (1904); preliminary design with arch. Petko Momchilov ** Defence and Staff College park (1906) ** Yablanski House: private house for Dimitar Yablanski (1907) (until 1993 Chinese Embassy, now a luxury club-restaurant) *

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

** the male high school * Kyustendil ** Teachers' Institute (today town hall)

Gallery

Image:Sofia-synagogue-MihalOrel.jpg, The

, built in

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

style Image:Yablanski-house.JPG, The Yablanski House Image:Rousse-architecture3.jpg, The Battenberg Palace in Rousse Image:Rousse-weather-station.jpg, A weather station in Russe Image:Kyustendil Town Hall.jpg, Kyustendil town hall Image:Zentralbad Sofia Oct 2012 PD IMG 1683.jpg, Sofia Public Mineral Baths - now Sofia Regional Historical Museum

References

* * Stern, Marcella, “Friedrich Grunanger”, ''Österreichische Osthefte'', Jg. 35, Wien, (1993): 319–324 (with a portrait); * Stern, Marcella, “Architekt Friedrich Grunanger”, ''Österreichische Architektureinflusse in Sofija um die Jahrhundertwende'', Sofija, 1998, S. 22–24, 48, 58–59, 68, 81–86, 93. * “Friedrich Grunanger”, A''llgemeine Kunstlerlexikon'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenanger, Friedrich Austrian architects Hungarian architects Austrian people of Hungarian descent Austrian expatriates in Bulgaria Transylvanian-Saxon people People from Sighișoara Bulgarian architects 1856 births 1929 deaths Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Hungarian people of German descent