Karol Lipiński: Violinist and Conductor in Lviv’s First Theater

Lviv has always felt like my native town; however, in recent times none of my ancestors were from here. But in the last few years I discovered that my direct ancestors on two sides of my family (Polish and Austrian) did live in Lviv – though over 200 years ago, in […]

Lviv Tiles: Building Years

It’s farily common to find the dates of buildings carved into their facades, but occasionally the years of constructions were marked in other places, for example on the floor near the main entrance, such as can be seen in my posts about terrazzo or on tiles as seen below. This one […]

Italian Fire Mark in Mukachevo

Riunione Adratica was an Italian insurance company specializing in fire insurance and cargo-transport insurance. The company was founded in 1838 in Trieste, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. “Almost immediately branch agencies or representative offices were opened in Athens; Budapest; Graz, Austria; Leghorn, Lugano, and Milan, Italy; Berlin; […]

Remnants of the Past in Linz

Boot Scrapers Conscriptions Numbers Guard Stones Various

Remnants of the Past in Klosterneuburg

Traces of the past in Klosterneuburg, an ancient town right outside of Vienna. Boot Scraper Guard Stones Hoisting Beam for Lifting Goods Building Number and Conscription Number Metal Shutter

Historic Street Signs in Vienna

Historic street signs still adorn many of Vienna’s buildings — at least, I assume the rectangular and oval metal plaques with building number and street name date from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as they look very similar to Lviv’s prewar street signs. Unlike in Lviv, the official language […]

Conscription Numbers: Vienna

Many of the old conscription numbers can still be found in Vienna, usually on plaques located inside a building’s entrance on the left-hand side near the door or above the second portal near the stairwell. House numbering was introduced in Europe in the eighteenth century (before that houses usually had […]

Storm Drains and Manhole Covers in Vienna

In Vienna, at almost every step there is an old manhole cover or storm drain. Fortunately, most include a date along with the manufacturer’s mark, and this is true even for modern ones. Below are square storm drains ranging from 1896 to 1957, posted in chronological order.  

Antique Roller Shutters: Vienna

Vienna is chock-full of antique (late 19th and early 20th century) metal roller shutters. The most interesting to find were the shutters made by manufacturers who also made shutters for others cities in the Austrian Empire, in particular for Lviv and Rzeszów. Joh. Schuberth Wien Shutters by this company can be found […]

Newel Post Lamps in Lviv

Before electricity, stairwells were lit up by candles, gas lamps, and other types of lighting. Lanterns were hung from hooks or poles high in the central area of the stairwell, or sometimes the stairwell’s newel posts, due to their prime location, functioned also as lamp posts. Early newel posts burned […]