The Löffler Palace () is a historic building in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

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

, on the ''Surogat'' side of the Victory Square. It was built between 1912 and 1913 by the family and company of the entrepreneur Jacob Löffler, as a company headquarters and home for him and his three sons.

History

The Löffler Palace is the first building on ''Surogat'', between the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

and

Huniade Castle The Huniade Castle (; ; ) is the oldest monument in Timișoara, Romania, built between 1443 and 1447 by John Hunyadi and Paolo Santini de Duccio over the old royal castle dating from the 14th century (built during the reign of Charles I of Hungar ...

. It belongs to the '' szecesszió'' current, and the architect of the building was Leopold Löffler, one of the three sons of the family of grain merchants once living in the palace. Together with father Jacob, they decided to buy a plot of land cleared after the demolition of

Timișoara Fortress Timișoara Fortress (, , , , ) is a historical fortress in western Romania around which the town of Timișoara was built. It is presumed that there was an earlier Fortification, earthworks fortification built by the Pannonian Avars, Avars, but ...

and parceled for sale. When purchasing the building plot, Löffler was subject to conditions from the city administration, so the construction time had to be less than a year, and the architectural design, especially the facades, had to be approved by the chief architect of the city, . In addition, the rear of the building had to be structurally separated from the

behind it and further developed. Here the building was richly decorated, including with two groups of statues. The statues were probably made by the sculptor . The palace was designed with three staircases, one for each of Jacob Löffler's sons, and had three floors, 46 apartments and 142 rooms. The apartments were also intended for rent and became, in a short time, very sought after, given the excellent position of the building. The palace has three entrances, because each of Löffler's sons wanted to have a separate entrance to the palace. A cafe was opened on the ground floor and, in a short time, numerous commercial or production spaces were rented. In 1948 the building was nationalized, and Löffler's last son died in a ruined attic on the middle staircase, where he had been banished by the new communist power. Over the years, the palace hosted various institutions, as well as numerous shops on the ground floor. The Hermes Exchange Bank, the Mortgage Credit Bank, the General Directorate of Railways, the branch of the French Institute of Higher Studies in Romania and the ''Bulevard'' café, on the ground floor, operated here alternately.

Architecture

In addition to its monumentality, the building impresses with the decorative wealth of the facades, especially with the presence of numerous large statues attached to the short facades, the work of sculptor . The rhythm of the facades is marked by semicircular

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

s, joined by

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

s and rows of balconies and decorated with geometric and anthropomorphic motifs specific to the Secession movement. Decorative panels with mascarons, stylized representations of the motif of the angel or the Green Man, geometrically treated

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

capitals or gravel plastering decorations on the balconies and attics are noteworthy in this regard. The volumetric play of the roof is an extremely complex one, defined by wide

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

s that frame the semi-dome roofs of the bay windows on the short side, and on the long side they are framed in turn by their roofs, slope breaks and tinsmithing details. The building, of monumental dimensions, is composed of a basement, a commercial ground floor that also functions as a plinth for the entire building, furnished for the rest with three floors intended for apartments for rent.

References

{{PlacesTimișoara Buildings and structures in Timișoara Residential buildings completed in 1913 1913 establishments in Romania