DOI article:
Dywan, Tomasz: Od „szkoły berlińskiej” do secesji: przyczynek do architektury miejskich zakładów przemysłowych Lwowa w latach 1858–1914
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51255#0216
Investment projects by private companies in 1858-1894
In the second ąuarter of the nineteenth century, lighting up public spaces with gas
was seen as a “sign of modernity.” The glow of a gas flame was noticeably brighter
than the flame of an oil lamp that was still common at the time. Also, the cost
of mass production of gas could be comparable or even cheaper than buying oiL
For these reasons, gas lighting, which had been implemented in European cities
sińce 1812 (the year of constructing the first municipal gasworks in London), was
seen on par of sunlight, as its substitute, illuminating the darkness of the night.5
It can be inferred that because of this, the authorities of Lviv nominated by
the Galician governor decided to accept the offer of the German Continental
Gas Association of Dessau (Deutsche Continental-Gas-Gesellschaft). The said
company was looking for investment opportunities not only in the domestic
market, dominated by English gas companies, but also in Russia and throughout
the Habsburg monarchy.6 On February 12,1856, the Lviv municipality concluded
an agreement under which it granted the Dessau Association a monopoly on gas
production and sales in Lviv for a period of 40 years, with the option of the city
buying off the gasworks after 25 years. In return, the kwestor undertook to build
a gas plant and, jointly with the city, to construct gas pipelines and streetlights
with gas burners.7
The representatives of the Association from Dessau submitted to the Lviv
municipality for approval gas infrastructure projects drafted on March 16,1857
by the companys co-founder, engineer Hans Victor von Unruh (1806-1886).
Based on these, on December 3 of that year, the investor was granted permission
to build the gasworks at Dzherelna Street (current address 28, Hazova Street).8 It
can therefore be assumed that in the spring of the following year, a retort house,
a desulphurization facility (then known as a “cleaner”), the headquarters for
the gasworks’ administration, a workshop, and a gasholder with water tank were
built of brick, laid on stone foundations.
The buildings dedicated to the production of gas were erected on the projec-
tion of elongated rectangles, with evenly spaced window openings in the pe-
rimeter walls to illuminate the interior halls. Only in the desulfurization
building, a smali engine room was separated, located in the south-east end,
and intended for setting up the steam engine.9 The retort house and the des-
ulphurisation facility were covered with a wooden gable roof, covered with
bituminous roofing felt, supported on a series of evenly spaced iron truss
5 W. Schivelbusch, Disenchanted Night. The Industrialisation ofLight in the Nineteenth Century,
translated by A. Davis, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1988, pp. 69-74; Y. Bathow, Die Berufsgruppe der
„Gas- und Wasserfachmdnner“. Ihre Bedeutungfur die kommunalen Investitionen in der zweiten
Hdlfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Investitionen des Stddte im 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, edited by
K.H. Kaufhold, Koln 1997 (= Stadteforschung. Yeróffentlichungen des Instituts fur vergleichende
Stadtegeschichte in Munster, series A: Darstellungen, 42), pp. 123-124.
6 E. Strasburger, Gospodarka naszych wielkich miast Warszawa, Łódź, Kraków, Lwów, Poznań. Na
podstawie budżetu na rok 1911 w porównaniu z latami poprzednimi, Kraków-Warszawa 1913,
pp. 244-245, 261-262; J. Kórting, Geschichte der deutschen, pp. 118-121; Y. Bathow, Die Berufs-
gruppe, p. 139.
7 T. Dywan, Przemysł gazowniczy we Lwowie w latach 1856-1914: przyczynek do dziejów industria-
lizacji miasta, “Roczniki Dziejów Społecznych i Gospodarczych”, 79,2018, pp. 97-98.
8 His signature appears on the preserved designs for the gasworks, compare footnotes: 10,14-17.
9 At that time, the use of a 2 hp steam engine in the Lviv gas plant is mentioned by S. Hoszowski,
Ekonomiczny rozwój Lwowa w latach 1772-1914, Lwów 1935, p. 50.
From “Berlin school” to Art Nouveau: contribution to the study of architecture...
215
In the second ąuarter of the nineteenth century, lighting up public spaces with gas
was seen as a “sign of modernity.” The glow of a gas flame was noticeably brighter
than the flame of an oil lamp that was still common at the time. Also, the cost
of mass production of gas could be comparable or even cheaper than buying oiL
For these reasons, gas lighting, which had been implemented in European cities
sińce 1812 (the year of constructing the first municipal gasworks in London), was
seen on par of sunlight, as its substitute, illuminating the darkness of the night.5
It can be inferred that because of this, the authorities of Lviv nominated by
the Galician governor decided to accept the offer of the German Continental
Gas Association of Dessau (Deutsche Continental-Gas-Gesellschaft). The said
company was looking for investment opportunities not only in the domestic
market, dominated by English gas companies, but also in Russia and throughout
the Habsburg monarchy.6 On February 12,1856, the Lviv municipality concluded
an agreement under which it granted the Dessau Association a monopoly on gas
production and sales in Lviv for a period of 40 years, with the option of the city
buying off the gasworks after 25 years. In return, the kwestor undertook to build
a gas plant and, jointly with the city, to construct gas pipelines and streetlights
with gas burners.7
The representatives of the Association from Dessau submitted to the Lviv
municipality for approval gas infrastructure projects drafted on March 16,1857
by the companys co-founder, engineer Hans Victor von Unruh (1806-1886).
Based on these, on December 3 of that year, the investor was granted permission
to build the gasworks at Dzherelna Street (current address 28, Hazova Street).8 It
can therefore be assumed that in the spring of the following year, a retort house,
a desulphurization facility (then known as a “cleaner”), the headquarters for
the gasworks’ administration, a workshop, and a gasholder with water tank were
built of brick, laid on stone foundations.
The buildings dedicated to the production of gas were erected on the projec-
tion of elongated rectangles, with evenly spaced window openings in the pe-
rimeter walls to illuminate the interior halls. Only in the desulfurization
building, a smali engine room was separated, located in the south-east end,
and intended for setting up the steam engine.9 The retort house and the des-
ulphurisation facility were covered with a wooden gable roof, covered with
bituminous roofing felt, supported on a series of evenly spaced iron truss
5 W. Schivelbusch, Disenchanted Night. The Industrialisation ofLight in the Nineteenth Century,
translated by A. Davis, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1988, pp. 69-74; Y. Bathow, Die Berufsgruppe der
„Gas- und Wasserfachmdnner“. Ihre Bedeutungfur die kommunalen Investitionen in der zweiten
Hdlfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Investitionen des Stddte im 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, edited by
K.H. Kaufhold, Koln 1997 (= Stadteforschung. Yeróffentlichungen des Instituts fur vergleichende
Stadtegeschichte in Munster, series A: Darstellungen, 42), pp. 123-124.
6 E. Strasburger, Gospodarka naszych wielkich miast Warszawa, Łódź, Kraków, Lwów, Poznań. Na
podstawie budżetu na rok 1911 w porównaniu z latami poprzednimi, Kraków-Warszawa 1913,
pp. 244-245, 261-262; J. Kórting, Geschichte der deutschen, pp. 118-121; Y. Bathow, Die Berufs-
gruppe, p. 139.
7 T. Dywan, Przemysł gazowniczy we Lwowie w latach 1856-1914: przyczynek do dziejów industria-
lizacji miasta, “Roczniki Dziejów Społecznych i Gospodarczych”, 79,2018, pp. 97-98.
8 His signature appears on the preserved designs for the gasworks, compare footnotes: 10,14-17.
9 At that time, the use of a 2 hp steam engine in the Lviv gas plant is mentioned by S. Hoszowski,
Ekonomiczny rozwój Lwowa w latach 1772-1914, Lwów 1935, p. 50.
From “Berlin school” to Art Nouveau: contribution to the study of architecture...
215