Forgotten Galicia

From the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century

After the Habsburg Monarchy began to rule Galicia, a large number of land holdings became property of the Austrian military. This is no wonder as the military required considerable resources such as fields, mills, magazines (ammunition storehouses), and barracks (Ger: Kaserne/Caserne; Polish: koszary; Ukr: касарні, казарми, кошари).

Until the end of the eighteenth century, there were no specially built barracks in Lviv. When the Austrian military appeared in the city in 1772, they used the premises of Lviv’s monasteries. This coincided with Josephinism – a series of reforms introduced by Habsburg ruler Joseph II, some of which targeted the Catholic Church and banned several monastic orders. As a result, many of the Lviv’s monasteries were dissolved and their land and buildings were taken by the city.

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Below I’ve gathered information about the oldest barracks in Lviv together with plenty of historical map fragments which show where these barracks appeared and how their territories were transformed throughout the years. It also allows us to follow how the barracks were marked on the maps, which were created in German or Polish – the two official languages of Galicia. The barracks were typically named after the type of military personnel that was quartered in them, but also took on names which referenced the former owners of the territory or were named in honor of a member of a Habsburg dynasty. Interestingly, we can also see changes in German orthography – most noticeably, the different spellings of the word “Kaserne” and the use of the letter “ſ.”

Artillery Barracks

Alternative names: Rothes Kloster Artillerie Kaserne; Artillerie Caserne; Koszary czerwony klasztor
Formerly: Territory of Collegium of the Theatines, aka “The Red Monastery” (1738-1746)
Transferred to Austrian military: c. 1785
Housed: Artillery
Location: 6 Kryvonosa St.
Today: Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

The first permanent barracks in Lviv were the reconstructed premises of the so-called Red Monastery – the Collegium of the Theatines. The name Red Monastery (Ger: Rothes Kloster; Pol: Czerwony klasztor) came from the color of the roof.

The collegium building was built in 1738-1746 by architects Nicolas Salvi and Gaetano Chiaveri. In 1785 as a result of Josephinism, the Theatines were evicted and the building was given to the military to be used as an artillery barracks.

The complex, in addition to the barracks, included a gunpowder magazine in the renovated St. Wojciech Roman Catholic Church and two gunpowder magazines near the foot of the High Castle. The front wing of the barracks was rebuilt by the military after 1818 and the building took on the style of Classicism. The structure was used as a barracks until 1989. Today it houses units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

^{Theatine monastery, Lviv (Karl Auer, 1837)}

^{The Red Monastery in the upper-right corner. Józef Eder, 1860s (lvivcenter.org)}

Small Barracks

Alternative names: Kleine Caserne; Kleine Infanterie Kaserne; Dom Karny Wojskowy; k.k. Strafhaus
Formerly: Territory of Armenian women’s monastery
Transferred to Austrian military: 1782
Housed: Infantry
Location: 9 Zamarstynivska St.
Today: Lviv State University of Internal Affairs

Тhe so-called Small Barracks were erected on the site of an Armenian women’s monastery built in 1629-1637. In 1671 the monastery buildings were given to the Theatines, while the Holy Cross Church (no. 73 in first map above) and cemetery remained with the Armenians. The following century the Theatines sold the buildings to the Order of the Lazarists, also known as the “Missionaries,” who c. 1744 rebuilt the monastery and completed the Church of St. Kazimierz (no. 50 in first map above).

In 1782, during the reforms of Emperor Joseph II, the Missionaries were evicted and the requisitioned premises were first used as a military hospital and later were transformed into a garrison prison and barracks. After the new Large Barracks were built nearby, the Church of St. Kazimierz and former monastery buildings housed a military court with its own prison – a provincial penalty house (marked as “dermalen Provinzial Strafhaus” & “k.k. Strafhaus” in German, and “Dom karny wojskowy” in Polish). In June 1941 the prison was a place of mass extermination by the NKVD. Today these buildings belong to the University of Internal Affairs.

Large Barracks

Alternative names: Grosse Kaserne; Grosse Infanterie Kaserne
Formerly: territory of Armenian community
Barracks built in: 1824
Housed: Headquarters and 1st & 3rd battalions of the 80th Infantry Regiment
Location: 7 Zamarstynivska St.
Today: Owned by the city, used for business needs

Before 1775
No. 73 Kościół św. Krzyża Ormiański

In 1824, on the site of the dismantled Armenian Holy Cross Church (No. 73 in first map above “Kościół św. Krzyża Ormiański”), which was in the courtyard of the former monastery, the Large Barracks were built in the style of the Austrian classicism. At the beginning of the 20th century, the headquarters and the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Imperial and Royal Galician Infantry Regiment No. 80 (K. u. K. Galizisches infanterieregiment Wilhelm Ernst Grossherzog von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Herzog zu Sachsen № 80) were housed there. About 70% of the personnel were Galician Ruthenians.

Today the building is owned by the city. The structure has retained its original layout with long corridors and semicircular vaults, as well as its stairwells from the first half of the nineteenth century.

Jabłonowski Barracks

Alternative names: Jabłonowskische Caserne; Grenadier Casernes; Koszary piechoty; Landwehr Kaserne
Formerly: Stanisław Jabłonowski’s Palace and Park
Transferred to Austrian military: 1822; after 1848 palace reconstructed as caserne
Housed: Grenadier; later Infantry Regiment
Location: Palace – in front of 10-12 Rustaveli St.; Park and complex – between Rustaveli, Arkhypenka, Tarnavskoho Sts., and Petrushevycha Sq.
Today: Palace did not survive WWII; part of territory became Officers’ Colony

At the end of the seventeenth century Polish hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski acquired lands on the outskirts of Lviv and built a grand Baroque palace with a large park. In 1822 the palace became the property of the Austrian army. In 1832-1846 it was the residence of Governor Ferdynand Karol Józef Habsburg-Este. After the 1848 revolutions, the military was located here — the palace was redeveloped into barracks and the park into a parade ground for military exercises. In 1877 the first Regional Agriculture and Industrial Exhibition was held in the park.

^{Map of the exhibition (1877) showing the koszary (north is down)}

In the 1880s the palace was reconstructed and became part of the largest barracks complex in Lviv. Units of the Austrian Landwehr (including for some time the 19th infantry regiment Landwehr “Lemberg”) were stationed here. Other sources mention that from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries it housed the headquarters and two battalions of k.u.k. Infanterieregiment „Freiherr von Georgi“ Nr. 15. In 1914 the barracks housed the 55th infantry regiment of the Austrian army.

In the 1920s a large part of the territory was given to build housing for officers, which became known as the Officers’ Colony. The former Austrian arena, which was used for training in bad weather, became a sporting complex. The only government agency that exists in these buildings today is the Lviv Oblast branch of the Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences (1 Arkhypenka St.).

^{The palace-turned-barracks shortly before it was destroyed in 1941}

^{Petrushevych Square where the palace-turned-barracks was once located}

Archduke Ferdinand Artillery Barracks

Alternative names: k.k. Ferdinands Caserne; Koszary artyleryi
Formerly: Territory of Balaban Estate and Augustinian Monks
Barracks complex built in: 1839-1841
Housed: 30th Infantry Regiment; after 1850 Artillery
Location: Barracks – 40 Horodotska St.; complex – between Shevchenka and Horodotska Sts.
Today: Barracks building still owned by military; some of the other structures, former storehouses remain.

From the seventeenth century, the area where the Archduke Ferdinand barracks complex would later be located was part of Balabanivka – the property and estate of the Balaban family, nobility with Ukrainian roots. The property of the Augustinian monks was located nearby – St. Anna’s Garden, part of which would also become the property of the military.

The complex was built in 1839-1841. In addition to the main barracks building (40 Horodotska), the complex included a cadet school, parade grounds, provisions storehouses, a military bakery, ammunition magazines, and stables. From 1845 the barracks housed the 30th Regiment of Infantry. After the regiment was transferred to the newly built fortifications at the Citadel, the barracks were given to the artillery. A Cadet School was located in the adjacent barracks from 1840 to 1882. Just east of the main barracks building was as a military riding hall named Windisch-Graetz, which in the 1920s was used an electric tram depot. During the interwar period, the barracks were named after Józef Böhm and housed the 5th Regiment of Light Artillery. Since Soviet times it houses a military unit.

To this day, one of the side streets on the former territory is named Mahazynova (from Ger: magazin/Pol: magazyn (magazine)), and until the 1990s а neighboring street was named Proviantova (Ger: proviant/Pol: prowiant (provisions)) after the nearby military food depots.

^{1863 JOzef Eder http://www.lvivcenter.org/uk/uid/picture/?pictureid=1370}

^{Gruss aus Lemberg (Greetings from Lviv) K.u.K Ferdinands-Kaserne. Verlag von Adolf Anhauch, Lemberg. Postcard dates to before 1906.}

^{Ferdinand barracks on a postcard, 1904}

^{Warehouse on corner of Yaroslava Mudroho St. and Shevchenka St.}

Franz Joseph Barracks

Alternative names: Heumarktkaserne (Hay Barracks); Franz Josefs Caserne; Koszary Franciszka Józefa; Koszary Heumarkt
Formerly: Hay market
Barracks built in: 1850-51
Housed: Battalion of the 80th Infantry Regiment
Location: 12 Lysenka St. (formerly pl. Franciszkański)
Today: Zakhid Air Command Officers House

In the first half of the nineteenth century, a hay market was located on this site. In the 1850s a military barracks was built here, which was first called the Heumarktkaserne (Hay Barracks), and later named after Franz Joseph. It housed one of the battalions of the Imperial and Royal Galician Infantry Regiment of William Ernst Grand Duke von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Duke of Saxony No. 80 (K. u. K. Galizisches infanterieregiment Wilhelm Ernst Grossherzog von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Herzog zu Sachsen № 80).

^{Franciszek Józef infantry barracks, c. 1870}

^{Coat of arms of the regiment as an architectural detail}

Kisielki Barracks

Alternative names: Koszary Kisielki; Kiselka Caserne
Formerly: Territory of Benedictine convent
Transferred to Austrian military: in 1804 it was rented for the Barracks; in 1864 the city purchased the plot
Housed: Cavalry, namely the First Regiment of Lancers
Location: 1 Donetska St.
Today: Residential building

For a long time the plot belonged to the Benedictine convent; from 1804 it was rented for the Kisielki Caserne. The cavalry was deployed there, namely the First Regiment of Lancers. According to the contract signed on 16 September 1864, the Community of the City of Lviv purchased this plot from Karol Kisielka together with his significant debt to the convent (DALO 2/1/3349:9). (lvivcenter.org)

The building that exists today on the plot was built in 1924 as a social housing construction project for workers at nearby the City Cleaning Facility; today it is a residential building.

Citadel Barracks

Alternative names: Cytadela, Defensions Caserne; Citadelle
Formerly: Territory of Szembek and later Wronowski family
Barracks built in: 1850-1856
Housed: Austrian 30th Infantry Regiment
Location: Hrabovskoho St.
Today: Since 1990 it houses a bank and office center

After the Revolutions of 1848, the Austrian government ordered the great cities of the empire to build structures for artillery and military warehouses. For this purpose the Lviv citadel was built in 1850-56 on the strategic Kalicha and Wronowska Hills. The fortification included four round towers-bastions and a three-storey defense barracks flanked by square bastions.

The barracks housed the Austrian 30th Infantry Regiment. In 1864-65, participants of the Polish January uprising were held in the citadel prison cells. In November 1918, the Citadel was one of the main outposts in the defence of the capital of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic. During the interwar period, the 19th infantry regiment was stationed here. In 1941-1944, the Nazis converted the territory into a concentration camp for Soviet, French, Belgian, and Italian prisoners of war.