CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAIN BUILDING OF THE TSISAR-ROYAL TECHNICAL ACADEMY IN LVIV (1873 – 1877)

Abstract

The article deals with the history of the Tsisar-Royal Technical Academy (now – the National University «Lviv Polytechnic»), particularly with the period when the authorities decided to build the Academy’s own premises. Prior to this, students studied in the premises which Galician Government rented from Lviv private property owners for the needs of Academy. Such changes were connected with the industrial development and the growing demand for engineers. The main thesis of the article is to prove that the construction of the main building of the Technical Academy was a great event not only for Lviv, but for the Austrian Empire in general.

The importance of this educational institution becomes evident from the growing number of its departments; moreover, in 1872 it was granted the right to elect the rector. It should be mentioned that there existed a construction design of a premise on Kastrum square in the central part of Lviv, dated 1867. Rejection of this plan might have meant that the authorities were quite aware that the Academy would need much more space in future. That is why the idea of building the premise in the «New World» district, which was the territory between the railway station and city centre, turned out more reasonable.

It is quite obvious that any money-consuming large-scale project in the Austrian Empire could not have been implemented without Ceasar's permission. The fact that Franz Joseph I allocated from the imperial treasury 1 million 300 thousand Guilders – an enormous figure at that time – confirms the importance of building premises for the Technical Academy, which, apparently, was expected to develop into a significant scientific institution of the area.

One of the top newspapers of those times, Gazeta Lwowska, were following every step on the construction site and informed the readers about the completed works, about the craftsmen and even about the favourable or unfavourable for the construction works weather conditions. It was this newspaper, from the pages of which local people learnt that the private Karl Ludwig Railway gave 50 % discount on the transportation of all the building materials necessary for Academy’s construction needs. This once again proves the main idea of the article that building new premises for the Technical Academy was the question of state importance.

Construction of Technical Academy’s own premises was a significant event of those times. The Construction Committee was headed by the Governor; the authorities conducted regular inspections of the construction. Personal presence of the Minister of Religion and Education Karol Shtremayer at the opening of the main building in November 1877, as well as the presence of Lviv secular celebrities and high-rank clergymen at the celebrations, convincingly testify that construction of the Technical Academy’s main building was one of the most important events in the history of Lviv in the second half of the 19th century.