Forgotten Galicia - Ghost Signs Archives

Ghost Signs of Przemyśl

Areta — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:18:46 +0000

Today a small city in eastern Poland, Przemyśl (Peremyshl in Ukrainian transliteration) was once a major city in Galicia. Przemyśl’s population consisted of many nationalities, including Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Germans, and Czechs. According to the Austrian census of 1830, the city was home to 7,538 people of whom 1,508 (20%) […]

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Architectural Celebration and Financial Security: How the Dnister Insurance Company Appeared in Lviv

Areta — Sat, 14 Oct 2023 12:05:00 +0000

From Lokalna Istoriya – text and photographs by Yuliya Korytska-Holub, original in Ukrainian The building of the Dnister Insurance Company, situated at the corner of Pidvalna and Ruska streets in Lviv, has been considered a gem of the city since its inception. Recent renovations have only heightened its elegance, though not without […]

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‘Nie Zamykać’: A Reminder Not to Close the Door Behind You

Areta — Mon, 29 May 2023 15:55:06 +0000

Around Kraków, near the handles of old doors you can find signs asking you to “nie zamykać” (don’t close) the door. The reason is that the door had a special door closer – a mechanical device that automatically closed the door in a controlled manner. As such door closers were […]

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Ghost Signs of Kraków

Areta — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 09:36:52 +0000

Kraków was considered as the unofficial capital of the western part of Galicia and the second most important city in the region. As in other former Galician cities, today various traces of its time under the Austrian Empire can still be found in the urban landscape. In particular, Kraków has […]

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Fire Marks from the Kraków Mutual Insurance Society

Areta — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 20:25:05 +0000

Shortly before the full-scale war started, I was working on an article about fire insurance companies that worked in Lviv (Lwów / Lemberg) in Austrian times. Thanks to this, I had learned about the Kraków Mutual Insurance Society and knew that their former headquarters still stood in Kraków. Thus some […]

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‘Obezpechyla Azienda’: Lviv’s Prewar Ukrainian-Language Fire Mark

Areta — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 12:23:32 +0000

I started working on this article in February 2022, shortly before the war started and before I ended up in Kraków for several months. *** Every day I walk to work across Lviv’s Old Town, passing Rynok Square right in front of the city hall building, down Ruska Street, then […]

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German-Era Bomb Shelter Signs in Kraków

Areta — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 06:58:00 +0000

One of the obsolete remnants of the past has again become relevant in Lviv is the WWII-era bomb shelter signs. Across the city traces of such signs from the times of the Nazi occupation can still be found. Soon after I arrived in Kraków (in late February 2022) I found […]

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Finding Solidarity with Ukraine: 12 Ways Kraków and Lviv Are Connected via Their Historical Built Environment

Areta — Sun, 29 May 2022 16:56:24 +0000

Kraków has become my temporary wartime home. When Russia began it full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, I made the difficult decision to leave my home in Lviv and depart for Poland. I didn’t know how long I would be gone or where I would end up; but […]

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Prewar Glass Inscriptions in Lviv

Areta — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 13:49:14 +0000

Around Lviv etched window inscriptions that date from before the war can still be found, though not many — glass is the most fragile of all remnants of the past. Most of these are old street names and building numbers, conscription numbers, and other informative messages that helped people orient […]

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Photographs of Prewar Lviv: Ukrainian Signage

Areta — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 09:58:10 +0000

In Lviv, according to the Austrian census of 1910, 51% of the city’s population was Polish Roman Catholic, 28% Jewish, and 19% Ukrainian Greek Catholic. Linguistically, 86% of the city’s population used the Polish language while 11% used Ukrainian (Lviv). Looking at these statistics, it’s no surprise that the Ukrainian language was […]

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