Ferencz Emmer Apartment Building

Ferencz Emmer, a hats and weapons merchant, owned a company in Timișoara ever since 1876. In 1905 he bought from Mayer Antónia the plot on Merczy Street (together with Jozefin, his wife, and Bieder Vilmos). A year later, he obtained a construction permit for a three-storey apartment building with 8 flats, 30 rooms, 2 commercial spaces and 2 storage spaces.

The building was designed in the style of the 1900s (Secession) by László Székely, the famous chief-architect of Timișoara. It stands out for the compositional coherence of its façade, where the motif of the sinuous line appears in every detail, from the contour of the pediments, to the window surrounds, to the wrought iron grille decorating the entrance door. The building is also remarkable for the statue placed in the compositional axis of the façade, for the owner’s monogram on the second floor and the expressive mascarons adorning the two pediments. One also notices the motif of female faces, often encountered in Timișoara at the beginning of the 20th century.   

The inside of the building also holds a surprise: a beautiful niche decorated in the style of the 1900s with the motif of The Green Man and two swans in high relief, marking the stairs to the upper floors. The decorations of the entrance way, the handrails of the staircase and galleries, as well as the space of the interior courtyard place Ferencz Emmer Building among the most beautiful architectural monuments in town.