On the right-hand side of Sfânta Maria (Saint Mary) Square, between the Palace of Waters and the István Nemes Apartment Building, there is a two storey house built by the lawyer Hermann Winkler at the beginning of the 20th century, as reflected by the monogram “HW” above the door.
The house is among the first buildings erected in the Iosefin neighbourhood, just outside Cetate (the old fortified centre), in an area that was under interdiction of construction until 1892. Thus, in 1900 Hermann Winkler bought from the Town Hall of Timișoara, for the price if 6,066 crowns, the lot no. 2 of the block that stretches today between Sf Maria Square, Miron Costin Street and T. Vladimirescu Embankment.
In the years that followed, Winkler built there a two storey house in the academic Eclectic style, which had, nevertheless, Secession influences visible in the decorations around the first floor windows. From this perspective, the house is an anachronism compared to its neighbours which illustrate the modern architecture of 1900s Timișoara: the Palace of Waters, the István Nemes Apartment Building or the Palace of the Southern Land Cazino.
If in 1906 Hermann Winkler was still listed as owner of this building, in 1910 he appears as owner (and probably resident) of the house on Gheorghe Doja Street no. 7 (currently no. 8) in Elisabetin neighbourhood, with the mention "magánzó" (very wealthy person).