bg Murska Sobota

Geza Hartner House

- Slovenska Ulica 3 -
The one-story was built somewhere at the end of the 19th century according to the plans of an unknown architect. In the 1880s, the rented building was sold to the municipality by Count . In 1911, the residential building and the adjacent commercial building were bought by the controversial miller, merchant, politician, and banker Geza Hartner, who was born on November 23, 1872, in Muraszombat, nowadays Murska Sobota. As the only Catholic, he went to the German elementary school of the Jewish religious community in Murska Sobota. In , he met his future wife Luisa Laval, who at that time was already a widow. They were married civilly on June 6, 1887, in Murska Sobota. Luisa had two children from her first marriage, who had nothing in common with Geza. After the wedding, the family lived between Murska Sobota and Budapest.
Geza Hartner in 1912
Between the years of 1897 and 1900, Geza Hartner built a steam mill on the courtyard side of the commercial-residential complex with four pairs of millstones. Due to some missed business moves and borrowing during the purchase or construction of commercial real estate, even the steam mill did not bring the expected income, the financial situation of the Hartner family was on the verge of sustainability at that time, so he ventured into political waters. He quickly drew attention to himself in the Budapest parliament with his unconventional behavior. In 1911, Geza Hartner obtained approval from the competent ministry of the Hungarian government for the construction of a few national schools in the Murskosobo district. He made loads of money by buying unstamped crown banknotes at a low price and selling the stamped ones at a higher price. This was all due to the falling value of the krona and the introduction of devalued banknotes from Austria and Hungary. It's assumed that in 1924 he used this money to buy most of the shares of Prekmurska Bank, which was founded in 1873.
The steam mill that was built between 1897 and 1900
In 1923, the sawmill under the name Geza Hartner and Sons was entered in the register of the Chamber of Commerce, Crafts and Industry. The processed wood, mainly oak, was exported by the joint-stock company Hartner to various parts of the world, including , , North America, and Turkey. In the second half of the 1930s, Geza Hartner bought three houses in the inner city of on the left side of the Salzach River. After long-term health problems, Geza Hartner decided to undergo an operation in Budapest, but after a few days of hospital treatment, he died on February 29, 1940. The residential building, and the adjacent building, were both demolished in the early 1970s and in their place, a large multi-story residential building was built.
Geza Hartner
The richly decorated symmetrical building, which is built in the Neo-Renaissance style, featured two top gables, both of which were topped with a pointed and adorned with a and two decorative vases. Underneath the that ran along the entire length of the main facade, you could admire many . Above the windows and the main entrance door, you could either admire a pointed or a broken segmental pediment, which was like the window sills that were placed underneath some of the windows, supported by two . A was placed underneath one of the windows, which contained a total of six . The basement windows were topped with a and surrounded by stone blocks, which were decorated with the technique of .
The residential and adjacent commercial building