bg Targu Mures

Albert Bürger Palace

- Strada Călăraşilor 106 -
The one-story building, which was built with a residential function that later changed into a commercial function, was constructed in 1897. Its construction was commissioned by the wealthy Jewish financier and entrepreneur Albert Bürger, who was born in 1861 in Vajasd, nowadays . It was built on the site of an inn called Two Pistols, owned by the city, in which market traders, peddlers, and travelers stayed. Due to the neglect and the amount of manure, the inn was a potential source of epidemics, so the city decided to liquidate it in 1895 and sold it to Albert Bürger. At the end of the 19th century, Bürger Albert was the richest and one of the most influential people in the city, the owner of many buildings and businesses, including the brewery that was located next to the palace. He bought the brewery in 1886 from the entrepreneur Károly Kraft, who went bankrupt and had to sell the brewery he had bought in the 1850s and modernized it to a certain extent. Albert Bürger made major investments, modernized the equipment, and multiplied the number of buildings, and thanks to the investments, the brewery became one of the market-leading facilities in the region and gained national importance.
Albert Bürger
Until the , and then until the of 1929, the Bürger brewery was a continuous success story, its production capacity increased continuously thanks to continuous investments. Albert Bürger was the kind of factory worker who tried to take care of his people, but if his interests so desired, he could destroy the various labor movements. He was not only active in economic life in the city, but he also played an important role in public life and politics. Already after moving to the city, he became a member of the legislative authority committee as one of the largest taxpayers. He didn't stay out of big politics either, he was a member of the Liberal Party and then the National Labor Party. Albert Bürger, who passed away in 1937, was married four times, and a total of ten children were born from those marriages.

The palace and all other properties stayed in family possession until the end of the when all properties were nationalized by the new communist regime. During the communist period, it hosted the most popular restaurant in the city, which was named the Golden Rooster.
An old postcard from 1900 shows Albert Bürger's palace and brewery
On top of the top gable of the Neo-Baroque building that's built with Art Nouveau elements, you can see a featuring a rooster. The top gable itself is embellished with a containing a decorative shell, several , floral decorations, two globes, and a . The same keystones are used on top of the arches that make up the small and the . The arcade and the loggia are supported by various columns and , which are all crowned with a Corinthian . They are secured with stone balustrades, which, like the banisters, are incorporated with . The pediments, which are placed above some of the windows and secured with adorned with foliage, also contain a decorative shell. The parts underneath these windows are also adorned with acanthus foliage and a decorative shell.
The building shown in an old postcard from 1903