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 architect who worked primarily in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. Born in Schäßburg in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(today Sighişoara in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

), Grünanger studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

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, of the

eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...

, 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 Austr ...

. 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. Etymolog ...

, later court architect of Knyaz

Alexander of Bulgaria Alexander Joseph ( bg, Александър I Батенберг; 5 April 185717 November 1893), known as Alexander of Battenberg, was the first prince (''knyaz'') of the Principality of Bulgaria from 1879 until his abdication in 1886. The Bulga ...

and his successor

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

. 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 h ...

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

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, 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 Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

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

** Royal Palace of Bulgaria (today housing the National Art Gallery 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: private house for Haralambi Sarmadzhiev (today Turkish ambassadorial residence) ** Sofia Spiritual Academy (today

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

Faculty of Theology); co-work with other architects ** Sofia Seminary with the St John of Rila Church (1902–1914) ** Sofia Synagogue (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 ** the male high school *

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...

** Teachers' Institute (today town hall)

Gallery

Image:Sofia-synagogue-MihalOrel.jpg, The Sofia Synagogue, 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 centu ...

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