bg Ljubljana

Urbanc Department Store

- Trubarjeva Cesta 1 -
The three-story building, which was built between 1902 and completed in 1903, was constructed according to the design of the Austrian architect from . The construction of the first modern department store in Ljubljana was commissioned by the Slovenian wholesaler Feliks Urbanc, who was born on July 27, 1850, in . He was able to purchase the land where once some smaller buildings used to stand, which were damaged in the Ljubljana of 1895. The interior furnishings such as the magnificent main staircase and the wooden carvings were created by .
One of the buildings that used to stand on the plot
Feliks' grandfather took him to after both his parents died. Here he went to school and then got a job as an apprentice at the merchant Kraljič, where he established himself through work and became a manager. In the 19th century, he came to where he married Franja Urbanc in 1876, the daughter of the merchant Franc Krisper, with whom he became a partner and managed the Krisper & Urbanc store. In 1882, he moved to Ljubljana, where he also took over and opened some other stores. Krisper later left the company and Urbanc remained the sole owner. A few months before his death, he left the store entirely to his sons Franz and Josip, who continued to run it under the name Feliks Urbanc. The family was expropriated by the communists after the and the house was confiscated in 1946. In 1947 it was managed by the Tkanina concern, then by the Merkur wholesale company. During this time, a large part of the original interior was lost due to renovation work. After the fall of communism and Slovenia's independence, a lengthy process of restitution to Urbanc's heirs began. Renovation work began in 2007, and in 2010, it became the Emporium Galerie.
Feliks Urbanc and his wife Franja
Towering high above the Art Nouveau building stands a statue of the Greek god , which stretches out one of his hands while holding a in his other. If you look a bit further down, you can see some foliage, two , a lovely , the year of completion, and an motif. Underneath the roof overhang, which is supported by , you can see another egg-and-dart motif, another similar mascaron, and some floral and geometric ornamentation. Another caduceus beautifully decorated caduceus is placed on each of the . An supported by two corbels is placed on the corner of the building, as well as an impressive that covers the main entrance.
The building shown in an old postcard