Ľudovít winter
Ľudovít Winter (also under the Hungarian first name Lajos , born November 1, 1870 in Šahy , Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia ); † September 15, 1968 in Piešťany , in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)) built the spa in Piešťany.
Life
Ľudovít Winter was born on November 1, 1870 in the town of Šahy in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia ) as the third of four children of Alexander and Henriette Winter. Ľudovít began studying at the Technical University in Vienna . In 1889, his father leased the spa town of Piešany from Count František Erdődy for an initial period of 30 years ; the contract was later repeatedly extended. Ľudovít Winter never finished his studies because his father called him back to Piešťany to help him run his company. Ľudovít had to take on great responsibility from 1890 as a 20-year-old. In 1902 Winter married Leona Schauer, the widow of his older brother Ferencz, who he was able to look after and their two children. After the death of his father in 1909 , he finally took over the management of the company. Under the influence of Ľudovít Winter, the most important buildings, such as the Workers' Hospital, the Kursalon, the Franz Joseph Baths, Pro Patria and the greatest pride of the city, the Hotel Thermia Palace and the Bad Irma, were built in Piešťany, which has a worldwide reputation to this day.
Ľudovít Winters buildings in Piešťany
In 1889 , his father Alexander Winter was already 60 years old and he was gradually running out of money without even a hotel or room being built in the health resort. The restoration of the existing buildings alone cost him a fortune. So he got help from Ľudovít Winter, one of his three sons, who was studying at the Technical University in Vienna at the time . At the age of 20, he took over the reins of all of his father's new business, including custody of 300 sick people who needed to be cared for, maintaining discipline among 200 employees, and handling the debt that now weighed on him.
The hospital
His first project was to build a hospital because of problems with sick people who could not afford to visit the spa. Here the social side of Winter won, and he had a hospital built in the immediate vicinity of the health resort. At a place where at that time there were only stalls for cattle, he had what was then known as the "hospital for the workers" built. This hospital, built by Winter at that time, still stands in Piešťany and is now called after Winterudovíts father Nemocnica Alexandra Wintera .
The crutch breaker
“The health resort will not achieve world fame without advertising”, were Winters' thoughts, and he prepared a brochure in five different languages. In order to design a poster, he thought about a suitable logo for the health resort. The young German painter Arthur Heyer was commissioned by Winter to depict recovery with a figure. A few days later, a sketch of the crutch breaker ( Barlolamač in Slovak ) was available. The enthusiastic winter immediately patented it. Later many other cities, including in Germany, tried to use this or a similar symbol as a landmark. In 1930 Winter had the figure of the crutch breaker cast in bronze, and when stepping on the colonnade bridge he still welcomes all visitors to the spa island to this day.
Churches and prayer house
Winter took care of the physical well-being of the people, but he knew that this is also closely related to the spiritual well-being, because the majority of the sick were religious. Donations made it possible to comply with this request, and Winter had a Roman Catholic chapel built right in front of the colonnade bridge. The wife of the senior physician Dr. Fodor, whose plaque can still be found today on a house in the pedestrian zone, is mainly due to the construction of this chapel. A Protestant church was also built near the hospital, and it was not until the time of Czechoslovakia that Jews also got their house of prayer .
The marble palace
In 1898 the Marble Palace was completed, it was to become the pride of the city, with its 100 cabins and a capacity for 500 guests in Renaissance style. It was named after Emperor Franz Joseph , even the emperor's ambassador came to the inauguration of the spa building and made Winter a knight . However, despite its beauty and fame, the building presented some problems. Because of its rather large distance to the thermal spring and the mud, the mud had to be transported to the hotel in wheelbarrows and could not be used at its original temperature, which caused dissatisfaction among the guests. In the Napoleon bath, the sick bathed directly over the boiling springs, which had a strong healing effect, but this was not possible in the new building. So the guests began to turn more and more to the more modest Napoleon bath and ignored the luxurious Franz Joseph bath. In 1967 it was finally demolished against Ľudovít Winter's will. The marble was smashed and the building then came to an end. Of course, this process hurt Winter, because he was of the opinion that the building was still usable for spa guests who only needed rest and relaxation and did not seek healing in the thermal springs.
House Zelený stream
In 1902 Winter married his wife Leona, b. Shower. In 1903 he bought a house for himself and his family. It was the former Hotel Zelený strom (German Green Tree ). The building in the middle of today's pedestrian zone on Winterstrasse was later nationalized. Winter had to move out with his family and lost his house forever. With Leona he had three children Jan, Elisabeth and Maria. Jan had to flee from the National Socialists and found happiness in the USA. He started a family there and was Professor of Romance Languages at Ohio University all his life. His daughter Dorothy is a respected art historian and lives in the United States. The daughter Bözsi married the German Count von Leonhardi and also had to flee from the NS. She lived her life in Australia. Her son John von Leonhardi lives there to this day. The youngest daughter Maria, married to Paul Schulz, was killed in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. She left two children - Agnes and Andrej. Ľudovit Winter had both grandchildren after losing his daughter. The grandson Andrej Schulz (December 26, 1929 - May 31, 2012) moved to Bratislava, where he studied and worked as a teacher. He married Alzbeta Lörinczova (* 1926), the daughter Andrea Schulz (* 1966) comes from the long marriage. She lives in Germany, works in management and is married to the German physicist / manager Arthur Steinel.
As the grandson of Ľudovit Winter, Andrej Schulz fought since the end of communism in 1989 until his death in 2011 to ensure that the memory of his grandfather did not fade. He campaigned for the memorial plaque for his grandfather Ľudovit Winter to be installed on the house where he was born, Grüner Baum , and for the main street of the pedestrian zone to be called Winterova ulica (Winterstrasse).
After the fall of communism in Slovakia, the grandchildren tried to get their parents' home back in a year-long court battle as part of the nationwide restitution. This did not succeed and it served as a state sanatorium for children with walking difficulties. The house is currently empty.
1910–1912: Construction of the Thermia Palace and the Irma baths
At that time, Winter had long been planning to build a new spa hotel and spa. He just wanted to get it right this time: He wanted to build a hotel that would completely satisfy the spa visitors, in which the way from the hotel to the baths should be uncomplicated and, above all, not far. With the young Armin Hegedüs as project manager and architect, Winter spent the whole of 1910 planning the construction of the hotel. When choosing a name, Winter looked for a term that would be understood all over the world and at the same time describe a healing spa. His mother helped him with the suggestion "Thermia Palace" . Today the name of the hotel is widely known and famous. He named the bathroom in the adjoining building "Irma" after Countess Irma Erdödy. Shortly before the start of construction work, problems arose with the building permit. The responsible office refused to dig such a deep hole on the surface of the warm springs on the grounds that the position of the springs could be shifted, as had happened in Teplice in the Czech Republic . Fortunately, Sebastian Kovacs , a professor of Budapest polytechnics, had a wonderful idea back then. He suggested that the building of the bath be erected on a concrete slab 1 ½ m thick. So it was finally realized and in the same year, after Winter had negotiated some loans with banks, construction work began. His argument with the banks was to build a new hotel to give the city not only foreign currency, but also notoriety and fame. In April 1912, the spa hotel was already open to guests, and the first famous guest was the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I.
1914–1918: time of the First World War
When the First World War broke out, Winter had the idea of making the Piešťany baths available to the military. Just three days after he had sent the telegram, the reply came from Vienna that the Red Cross wanted to get in touch with him. Finally the Red Cross had a hospital built in Piešťany and after all preparations had been made, the first injured soldiers from Russia arrived. The townspeople also offered beds to the wounded, and so it came about that by the end of the war, around 4,000 patients were cared for in Piešťany. There was no such rush in any other spa town, and the town gained a great reputation at that time.
During these years, a hospital called “Pro Patria” was built on the spa island, because a new law ordered that people infected with contagious diseases be accommodated in separate buildings, possibly just wooden huts. Winter had the money for the construction of the wooden huts paid out as a loan and built a hospital from solid material on the spa island.
Because of the inadequate food supply for the soldiers during the war, Winter had a mill built near the train station, which was named the "Pink Mill" after Rószi, his foster daughter - the daughter of his late brother Ferencz Winter (1868–1900). In addition, the Winter family bought several properties during this time, including a former castle on the outskirts of the village above the Vah River , which was redesigned and operated as a cozy guesthouse and restaurant under the name “Villa Bacchus”. The "Villa Bacchus" is now privately owned and no longer open to the public.
After the First World War
The Czechoslovak Republic was founded in 1918 and the government of the state was no longer in Budapest, but in Prague. The representatives of Hungarian power fled from popular discontent. After all, 80% of the Slovaks lived in Slovakia, and the official language up until then was Hungarian. That year, however, Slovak became the official language. It was a difficult time even for winter as a Hungarian citizen. In the period that followed, looting and revenge on the oppressors and the rich increased. The farmers attacked the health resort and wanted to plunder shops and hotels. However, apart from the looting of a few shops, this could be prevented by the presence of many gendarmes, soldiers and police officers on the streets.
Anti-Hungarian sentiment developed among the city's residents and Winter felt that he was no longer welcome in the town. He did not want to flee, however, because he had come to the city neither through military Hungarian power nor through political intrigues. Because of the inconvenience that Winter had to endure at that time, he nevertheless decided to retreat to Hungary. He had some important people in town come together for a small farewell party. The meeting ended surprisingly: One of those present interrupted Winter's farewell speech with the words that the inhabitants of the city would not want him to leave, but would be grateful for the almost 30 years of his work in the city and asked him to stay and continue his Implementing ideas in the service of the health resort. These words moved Winter not to implement his original decision and instead to stay in the village.
After 30 years of activity in the winters, the place had reached a certain cultural standard in 1919. A sewer system, a water pipe, concrete walking paths and also the concrete streets beautified the city, especially in the spa area. These conditions had been achieved in the health resort, but the situation was different in the city. The streets were littered with mud or dust, the houses had wet walls, the floors were made of earth and the roofs were made of thatch. In the summer it had become a habit among the residents of Piešťany to share one room with the whole family, while the other rooms were rented out to spa guests. Since Winter now also had a seat on the city council, the residents counted on his help in the further development of the city, because at that time the Czechs had come much further in building the cities than the Slovaks. Winter encouraged the residents not to be idle and wait for outside help. The townspeople were enthusiastic about Winter's words, and so it happened that six months later the first technical workers arrived, who had to do various tasks under Winter's instructions. A new school was to be built, streets and alleys were to be expanded, equipped with sewers and water pipes and asphalted, the entire city was to be sewn, and dams were to be built along the Vah to protect against flooding.
1920-1928
At that time, the promenade in the spa was built and additional park benches were set up with a view of the Vah so that visitors could hear the mills that were still in operation at the time and have a view of the Považský Inovec mountain in the background. In addition, the “Dubove” and “Cachtice” creeks running through the town were regulated and a new school, the district court and numerous other buildings, including villas, were built. For all those projects, however, funds were necessary that could only be realized through a loan. However, this project was made more difficult by the state. Rudolf Schultz, who once asked Winter not to leave the city, now put himself on the counteroffensive: He circulated that the loan would only be used for Winter's own benefit and not the city. This news reached Prague, and people toyed with the idea of nationalizing the spa town. Nevertheless, it was decided to leave the city of Ľudovít Winter, with all its entrepreneurial skills, and the state still had the task of observing health tasks. So Winter was granted a loan and commissioned the two architects Frantisek Wimmer and Bandi Szönyi with it . The following work was carried out step by step:
- The modernization of the Napoleon bath. A second floor was built over the mud baths (Napoleon III), which doubled the number of cabins. The wet walls were drained and good ventilation was installed. A new thermal fountain called Trajan was built. New electric pumps were also installed.
- Pro Patria and the Cyril Garden, which had originally served military purposes, were only made available for social purposes. Cyril has been converted into a first class hospital for more demanding guests.
- The construction of the Eva swimming pool. The idea and its realization were the work of Winter's colleague Edmund Tolnai. He and Winter assumed that patients would like to travel with healthy members of the family, who also need some pleasure. Piešťany was ideally suited for this, because the climate was pleasant, as the mountains protected the valley from storms. There are so many healing springs that you could fill the swimming pool with thermal water, which in turn meant ideal cleanliness. It was also a cheap method, because you saved the heating and cleaning of the pool water with chlorine. Two pools of the same size were built, one outside and one inside. The dimensions met the demands of the sports experts. All around, large areas were built for various sports and space for sunbathing. All of this should serve as an opportunity for the youth to practice water sports in both summer and winter. In 2007, the current renovation work was carried out on the bath, which now has a Slovakian reputation as the “mother” of all baths, as it has not been rebuilt since the early 1960s. The two basins that were created during winter are still there today. You are surrounded by tennis and volleyball courts. The favorable location of the swimming pool, in the middle of the spa island, does not allow tourists to pass by unnoticed.
- More dams were built around the Vah to protect the town against floods. The surrounding area was used as a park. Ľudovít's brother Imrich Winter (also under the Hungarian first name Imre, 1878–1943) designed a golf course together with a professor from the Moravian university, which can be reached via the "Topolova" avenue. Another hiking trail was set up in the wider area of Piešťany (in today's “Banka”), which led to a smaller mountain called “Cervena Veza”.
- Since Imrich Winter , Ľudovít's brother, was a first-class violin player, he had a small theater built in nature at the Vah, called the “Stadium”. In 1928 at the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Schubert's death, Schubert's "Unfinished" was performed there.
The cooperation with the Wimmer-Szönyi company lasted two years. After the realization of those projects, the city gained not only patients but also other visitors who came for entertainment and recreational purposes.
1928–1930: construction of the bridges
During a visit by the Council of Ministers to Piešťany, Winter expressed his concerns about the wooden bridge Piešťanys, which at that time was the only connection between the town and the spa. In addition to all of this, it was also owned by the Erdödy family, who therefore had the right to demand rent. His complaint was heard, and the planning of a new bridge that would connect Piešťany with today's Banka, about 200 meters from the Hotel Thermia, began. The plan for the bridge was drawn up with the help of Ivan Grebenik. In 1928, Ing. Liewald, who was present, asked for the bridge to be kept at least 500 m away from the hotel and for a road to be built to connect the bridge with the island. It was completed a year later.
However, Winter was still not satisfied. He believed the city needed a sheltered, covered bridge with business premises. Therefore, on a trip to Vienna, Ing. Schwarz from Switzerland, the representative in Trnava of the Viennese construction company Pittel und Brausewetter , informed of his plans. He made a sketch of a concrete bridge that should cost only a million crowns. Unfortunately, the desired upper part of the bridge with the business premises and covered footpaths was missing here. So Winter turned again to Ing. Liewald, whom he already trusted and knew him as an esthete. He in turn recommended the young architect Emil Belluš to Winter . It was through him that the final design of the new bridge emerged, with two sidewalks that were next to each other and covered, offering sun and a view and at the same time protection from wind. Shops were also planned at both ends of the bridge. The plan thus corresponded exactly to Winter's ideas.
Construction of the bridge began in 1930. The company Pittel and Brausewetter took over the lower part, while Belluš was responsible for the upper part of the bridge. Winter's wish was to attach the crutch breaker figure to the portal of the bridge. This task was carried out by Robert Kühmayer , an artist from Bratislava. Winter was very concerned about the writings that were to be attached to both portals of the bridge. He wanted them to express the health of the sick and to be understood by everyone. The best idea about this came from Dr. Rapant from Bratislava, who suggested using the first words of the epic Adam Trajan from 1642, which read: Saluberrimae Pistinienses Thermae (hymn of praise to the health resort Piešťany). For the other side of the bridge the words Surge et Ambula ( Eng . Stand up and go, Mt. 9.6) were chosen. In both cases, they are well-known Latin quotations that are understood all over the world. Finally, the bridge was decorated with a glass wall, the ornaments of which were created by the painter Martin Benka . They were depictions of Slovak landscapes and current images of people.
In 1945, when Hitler's troops left Piešťany and wanted to blow up the bridge, a courageous person was found, Filip Hanic, who at that time removed some of the valuable glass paintings from the bridge and kept them at home. It wasn't until 1956, when the new regime was renovating the bridge, that the works of art returned to their original location. The bronze plaque, which said that this bridge was built under the owner of the city with government help and asks God's blessing for this work, was renewed in 1956. The small plaque now said that the bridge served the working people.
1932–1938: Hitler's work
On March 24, 1932, the Prussian Ministry of the Interior issued a decree that forbade the "foreign sludge, which has recently been advertised by all means of propaganda" from being circulated and that from now on only "German sludge" should be used. Another ban followed in the same year: The German “Reichsfremdenverband” publicly called on doctors from all over the world not to use the Piešťany sludge because, in their opinion, it was not of the required quality. In 1935 this was to be proven by the publication of the book "Investigations into the chemical and bacteriological properties of various types of healing mud" by the dentist Werner Judt from the Magdeburg Hygiene Department. It stated that the sludge exported from Piešťany contained harmful bacteria and was therefore detrimental to recovery. This untruth persisted until the two dermatologists Dr. Akluyver and Dr. Czuda reviewed the contents of the work in 1935, finding that the author's views were medically incorrect and unprofessional. Immediately thereafter, Winter filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the distribution of the book. The 21st civil chamber of the regional court Berlin 15 forbade the publication of the book in the same year. Another blow came when a type of mud was found near Mecklenburg in Germany. A company that knew the brochures about the healing mud from Piešťany founded the company Teufelsbad AG, described the mud as healing and, to top it all off, produced its own brochures, which were very similar to those from Piešťany in terms of both pictures and text. Again, Winter filed a lawsuit and won the process. He was lucky back then, as in 1936 the courts were even less politically influenced.
Division of the republic
Hitler was well aware of the Slovak people's desire to separate from the Czechs . On this was based his strategy to begin his work in Czechoslovakia . In Slovakia , the Hlinka Guard (Hlinkova Garda) was formed as a sign of the independence of the Slovaks from the Czechs . During this period there were many negotiations between Bratislava and Prague , led by Karol Sidor . He was a good friend of Winter. In 1938 Slovakia got its own government and parliament. Dr. Joseph Tiso , the former Minister of Health, has been named Prime Minister. Winter had also had frequent contact with him, and Tiso observed what was happening in Piešťany, because once a week he traveled through Piešťany to Banovce , not far away , to attend Holy Mass there. Dr. Vojtech Tuka , a university professor formerly sentenced to death for revolts against the Czechs, was now one of the first to be released from prison. Since an acquaintance of his was employed in the spa, she asked Winter to allow Tuka to stay in Piešťany because he needed some rest. Winter gave Tuka and his wife a double room in the Kurhaus Cyril. Tuka was very attached to Winter at the time, but this condition did not last long. Tuka soon had a guard uniform sewn for her and received more and more important political visitors. Tiso and the ministers could often be seen at the spa. In November 1938 he was visited by Franz Karmasin , an "adviser" sent to Slovakia by the German Reich, who was supposed to serve to control the government. After his arrival, Tuka secretly left the country and returned after eight days. Winter learned that Tuka was now serving German interests as Hitler's secret informant and spy. After spending two months in Piešťany, he finally asked Winter in December 1938 to be able to say goodbye to the townspeople from the balcony. Here Winter had to overhear Tuka from the balcony of his hotel room announcing to the people that he wanted to stop the power of winter in Piešťany.
Deportation of the Jews
The Hlinka Guard now had to follow Hitler's orders. In an article under the heading Slovakia deports its Jews in “ Völkischer Beobachter ”, No. 8, in November 1938, the first names mentioned were the two Jewish families, Winter and Leonhard, who would destroy the spa town through their activities. In the same year, Winter was asked to sell his investments in the city to a German consort. Winter would be paid off well, and the Erdödy family would make millions on it. Before a decision could be made, negotiations on the sale of the spa town to the state began, and Winters' arrest was planned.
House searches by Hitler's troops began in 1941, but the reason for this remained unclear. In Piešťany, Ľudovít's brother Imrich was one of the first to be affected, as was the Leonhard family and other Jewish families. Deportations soon began and numerous Jews had to hide or flee. As early as 1942 the order came that Aryan families were not allowed to hide Jews. For Ľudovít Winter and his brother Imrich, however, this was an exception due to Winter's good acquaintance with Tiso. But this did not help him for long, because in 1944, after Slovakia tried to resist Hitler's regime, the German military took power over the country, and the exemption for Ľudovít no longer applied. His brother Imrich had since died of blood poisoning after a prostate operation. He had taken care of the expansion of the parks in Piešťany, the small ponds filled with thermal water that still adorn the spa island today, and it was also he who had found traces of Ludwig van Beethoven in the Villa Bacchus, a few kilometers away from Piešťany (you can still visit the memorial room there today). Winter had to look for a hiding place and found it at Lazarettgasse (Lazaretska Ulica) 18, where a widow offered him a place to sleep.
Finally, in 1944, his hiding place was discovered and Winter was betrayed. Winter was taken to a concentration camp for Jews in Sered along with other Jews . Winter spent the rest of 1944 and 1945 first in the Sered concentration camp and then in Theresienstadt . But since he was known to many and also popular through his work in Piešťany, he escaped death in the concentration camp despite his age. But he had to sit and watch as many of his relatives and friends perished there. After the war ended in 1945, Winter was able to return to Piešťany despite all doubts about how he would be received and received there.
From 1945: Communist era, Winter pension
After his longed-for return to Piešťany, Winter experienced a great disappointment. He was surrounded by people who did not know him or who recognized him but did not want to know. The prevailing communist zeitgeist did not like it that a single person should share most of the responsibility for the city. Winter was released from his administrative and business activities and replaced by members of the party. In 1950 he was still responsible for the newly built “Floreat” living area. In the same year, however, Winter suffered a serious accident when he fell from the train while it was still in motion and seriously injured his back. From this point on, Winter “was” retired and fought regularly for his right to a disability pension. Ultimately, all that was available to him per month was a pension of 250 kroner, a sum that was very low even for the circumstances at the time. Winter, who once helped Piešťany gain a worldwide reputation through his work, now received a minimum pension from the state that only the poorest of the poor received. Only in December 1963 did the good news come: A pension of 250 kroner a month is illegal, because the disability minimum is 400 kroner, which Winter finally received until his death. Ľudovít Winter died in Piešťany in 1968 at the age of 98 and was buried there in the Bratislava cemetery.
Appreciation
Although the communists did not recognize Winter's work in Piešťany, not least because he described himself as a capitalist until his death, some changes were made in Piešťany after 1989. A pedestrian zone was established in the street where Winter's house ("Zelený Strom") is located, which was named after Winter in 1991 ("Winterova Ulica"). On the facade of Winter's former house there is a plaque to commemorate his work in the city. The hospital, which has been undergoing EU-funded renovation since 2006, is named after Ľudovít's father: "Nemocnica Alexandra Wintera". The Winter family is firmly connected to the town of Piešťany, whose inhabitants were only allowed to recognize this again after 40 years of communism.
Winter was posthumously awarded honorary citizenship of the town of Piešťany. A commemorative coin was issued on the occasion of this.
In 2008, the film Optimista , in which Dušan Trančík documented his life , also appeared on Slovak television .
Web links
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- Ľudovít winter: Spomienky na Piešťany . Piešťany: Tising press sro, Piešťany, 2001, ISBN 978-80-968258-4-4 .
- ↑ image of Nemocnica Alexandra Wintera
- ↑ Picture of the crutch breaker
- ↑ picture of the colonnade bridge
- ↑ image of the Zelený stream
- ^ Report on the Winter family , accessed on September 12, 2017
- ↑ Family tree of the Winter family in memories of Piestany
- ↑ picture of the Thermia Palace
- ^ Image of the Irma bath
- ^ Optimista , 2008, accessed March 19, 2013.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Winter, Ľudovít |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Winter, Lájos |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Slovak entrepreneur of Hungarian origin, operator of the Piešťany Spa |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Šahy , Levice district |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15th September 1968 |
| Place of death | Piešťany |