The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement in Galicia: Maslosoyuz

Name: Maslosoyuz (The Dairy Union)Type: Association of dairy cooperativesFounded by: Yevhen Olesnytsky, Ostap Nyzhankivsky, L. Horalevych, I. BachynskyYears active: 1904-1944 The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement, which began in Galicia in 1883, addressed the economic plight of the Ukrainian people through the creation of financial, agricultural, and trade cooperatives that enabled Ukrainians to pool their resources, […]

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Lviv’s Jewish Quarter in the Faded Memories of Witold Szolginia

An excerpt from Tamten Lwów—an eight-volume monograph about Lwów (Lviv)—in which Witold Szolginia describes the Jewish quarter as he remembers it from his visits in the 1930s. Witold Szolginia (1923-1996) was an architect, a native of Lwów until he was expelled to present-day Poland in 1946. Called “the encyclopedist of […]

Galicia’s Adventurous and Free-Spirited Sofia Jablonska

From Lviv Today – a bilingual lifestyle magazine Here is the astounding story of the Galician girl who managed to conquer thousands of fans with her poetic travel essays and become Ukraine’s first internationally renowned travel writer, documentalist, and journalist. Early beginnings Sofia Jablonska was born in 1907 in the […]

The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement in Galicia: Silskyi Hospodar

Name: Silskyi Hospodar (The Village Farmer)Type: Agricultural organizationGoal: To teach peasants modern farming methodsFounded by: the Revs. Toma and Julian DutkevychYears active: 1899-1944 The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement, which began in Galicia in 1883, addressed the economic plight of the Ukrainian people through the creation of financial, agricultural, and trade cooperatives that enabled Ukrainians to […]

The Coats of Arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria

Today the jackdaw is the most recognizable symbol of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria; yet, this crow was not even found on the crownland’s first coat of arms, which featured three crowns for Galicia along with separate symbols for Lodomeria and Auschwitz (Oświęcim). Why was the first coat of […]

Lviv’s First Tram Depot

The first electric tramline in Lviv was built ahead of the General Regional Exhibition of 1894 to bring visitors from the main railway station to the site of the exhibition. To power the line, the first municipal electric station of direct current (DC) was also built, and to house the […]

Austrian Military Barracks in Lviv – Part II

From the End of Nineteenth Century to WWI When Galicia came under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1772, no specially built barracks or barracks complexes existed in Lviv. At first, the Austrian military used the premises of Lviv’s monasteries for magazines (ammunition storehouses) and barracks (Ger: Kaserne/Caserne; Polish: koszary; Ukr: касарні, казарми, кошари). […]

Dom Inwalidów: Where Disabled Military Veterans Retired in Lviv

The Romantic historicist ensemble of the former Dom Inwalidów / K. K. Invalidenhaus (Invalids’ House) is a valuable monument of architecture and history. An initiative of the emperor of the Austrian Empire, the Dom Inwalidów was a retirement home for disabled military veterans in Lwów / Lemberg from 1863 to […]

Ul. Sykstuska: Doroshenka Street Before the War

Doroshenka is today one of Lviv’s most beautiful streets, boasting many outstanding examples of architecture, especially in the styles of Neoclassicism, Historicism, Secession, and Functionalism. The street’s historic name – Sixtuskagasse / Sykstuskagasse (German) and ul. Sykstuska (Polish) – comes from the name of a famous doctor and burgomaster of […]

The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement in Galicia: Narodna Torhovlia

Name: Narodna Torhovlia (People’s Trade)Type: Consumer cooperativeFounded by: Vasyl Nahirnyi and Appolon NychaiYears active: 1883-1944 The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement in Galicia addressed the economic plight of the Ukrainian people through the creation of financial, agricultural, and trade cooperatives that enabled Ukrainians to pool their resources, obtain less expensive loans and insurance, and pay less […]

The Galician Petroleum Industry and Its Connection to the Jews of the Drohobycz Region

“The Galician Petroleum Industry” by Valerie Schatzker for the Drohobycz Administrative District website From the middle of the nineteenth century, the history of the Jews of the Drohobycz Administrative District was closely connected with the history of the petroleum industry. As the demand for naphtha lamp oil grew, the oil-rich […]