Skip to content
  • Home
  • Physical Traces
    • Architecture
    • Ghost Signs
    • Infrastructure
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Music
    • Language
  • History
    • Historical Figures
    • Old Postcards & Photographs
    • Societies & Cooperatives
  • Learn & Listen
    • Reading List
    • Playlist
    • Songs from Gimpel’s Lemberg Yiddish Theatre 1906-1910
    • Watchlist
    • Online Resources
  • Glossaries
    • Architectural Styles in Lviv
    • Architectural & Infrastructural Terms
    • Lviv Architects
    • Galician Ukrainian Lexicon
  • Galicia Today
    • Lviv Guides
    • Genealogy Research & Heritage Tours
  • About
    • What is Galicia?
    • Concept & About Me
    • Support Me
  • English
    • English
    • Українська
Forgotten Galicia

Forgotten Galicia

Remnants of the past found in Lviv, Galicia & the former Austrian Empire

Tag: women's history

Country of Roxolania: Ukrainian Women in the First World War

January 22, 2022

By Mariana Baidak for Lokalna Istoriya (original in Ukrainian) “Out of my love for Ukraine, I took a rifle and went to the field to beat the enemy with physical force,” said Olena Stepaniv, the most famous Ukrainian military woman, more than 100 years ago. Since then, the issue of […]

Read More

Forgotten Galicia

forgottengalicia

It’s my first time seeing this wall tile pattern It’s my first time seeing this wall tile pattern in Lviv. I really like how the door, with its two square ornaments, echoes the design of the glazed tiles. It's a shame the corridor is in such a neglected state.

#walltiles #glazedtiles #oldtiles #tileaddiction #tiles #addictedtotile #vintagetiles #antiquetiles #floortiles #archidetails #archihunter #architecturaldetail #olddoors #oldbuilding #lviv #lwów #ukraine
The stairwell in the apartment building of Józef The stairwell in the apartment building of Józef Skwarczyński, constructed between 1906 and 1907. Built by the renowned firm of Ivan Levynskyi, with Oleksander Lushpynskyi likely serving as co-architect, the building reflects a blend of Hutsul and Zakopane architectural traditions, enriched with Secessionist ornamentation. The wrought-iron balustrade, in particular, stands out as one of the finest works produced by Mykhailo Stefanivskyi’s workshop.

#metalwork #ironwork #balustrades #balustrade #staircase #staircases #stairwells #stairwell #stairway #archidetails #architecturalheritage #archihunter #artnouveaustyle #artnouveauarchitecture #secesja #secessionism #hutsulsecession #archilovers #zakopanestylearchitecture #lviv #lwów #ukraine
#summer #summerinthecity #secesja #secessionism #a #summer #summerinthecity #secesja #secessionism #artnouveaustyle #artnouveauarchitecture #artnouveau #doordetail #doors #doorsoflviv #doorsofinstagram #lviv #ukraine
To compelement yesterday's post, here are some his To compelement yesterday's post, here are some historic depictions of the imperial double-headed eagle in Viennese architecture, captured in old photographs.
Photos from the Wien Museum digital archive.

#imperialeagle #doubleheadedeagle #archidetails #austrianempire #austrohungarianempire #oldphotos #wien #vienna #austria
The imperial double-headed eagle can still be seen The imperial double-headed eagle can still be seen throughout Vienna and Austria, embedded in building facades and architectural details—silent reminders of the former empire. Here are a few examples from Vienna and the nearby spa town of Baden bei Wien. Cities in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire like Lviv also once featured many such emblems across their urban landscapes. Today, however, the double-headed eagle has become an almost entirely lost symbol in Lviv’s cityscape.

#coatsofarms #doubleheadedeagle #imperialeagle #habsburgeagle #austrianempire #austrohungarianempire
#kuk #imperialroyal #imperialandroyal #archidetails #vienna #wien #austria
Ghost sign in Przemyśl 🍺 #ghostsign #ghostsig Ghost sign in Przemyśl 🍺

#ghostsign #ghostsigns #starynapis #starenapisy #handpaintedsigns #handpaintedsign #oldsignage #typography #przemysł #galicja #galicia #poland
Visiting the old municipal cemetery in Przemyśl i Visiting the old municipal cemetery in Przemyśl is a powerful way to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Galicia during the Austro-Hungarian period. The cemetery offers a vivid glimpse into the city’s rich multilingual heritage and its historical significance as both a major religious center—particularly for Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics—and an important garrison town of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The cemetery reflects the diversity of Przemyśl’s past, with graves belonging to a wide cross-section of society: from Greek Catholic bishops and Austro-Hungarian military officials to veterans of Polish uprisings and ordinary townspeople.

The ambiance of the pre–World War I period lingers in the Art Nouveau tombstones, ornate typefaces, archaic orthographies and alphabets, and one of the necropolis’s most distinctive features: inscriptions in multiple languages.

Typical of Galician cemeteries more broadly, inscriptions in Polish, Ukrainian, and German vividly reflect the region’s cultural mosaic before World War I. This linguistic diversity is not limited to separate graves; it often appears on individual family tombstones. This phenomenon mirrors the reality of interethnic marriages, which were relatively common in Galicia—especially between Ukrainians (mostly Greek Catholic) and Poles (mostly Roman Catholic). In some cases, even the epitaph of a single individual was duplicated in both Ukrainian and Polish on the same gravestone.

The embedded ceramic portrait photographs lend a haunting intimacy to the graves, capturing not only the faces of the departed but also the fashion of their time. These portraits showcase period clothing, hairstyles, and—most notably—facial hair, with mustaches being a particularly prominent feature. One striking example is the handlebar mustache worn by Ignacy Biliński (photo 7).

And finally, on a personal note, the cemetery in Przemyśl is also the resting place of my great-great-grandfather, Leon Bednawski, as well as one of his daughters (photos 9 and 10).

#necropolis #oldcemetery #oldcemeteries #burialground #cemetery #cmentarz #austrohungarianempire #galicja #galizien #galicia #gravestone #przemysł #poland
Beautiful Art Nouveau overdoors. Also known as a s Beautiful Art Nouveau overdoors. Also known as a supraporte or a sopraporte, an overdoor is an ornamental painting, carving, or section of woodwork directly above a doorway. 

#artnouveaustyle #artnouveauarchitecture #artnouveau #overdoor #supraporte #sopraporte #woodwork #woodendoors #olddoors #archidetails #architecturalheritage #paintedceiling #secesja #lviv #lwów #ukraine
Lviv at dusk #lviv #cityview #lwów #lemberg #dus Lviv at dusk

#lviv #cityview #lwów #lemberg #dusk #ukraine
Follow on Instagram




Tags

architecture Austrian Empire Galicia ghost signs hand-painted signs interwar Poland Lviv manufacturer's mark music old photographs

Archives




Forgotten Galicia
Instagram Facebook
© 2012-2025